The Otherside
by C-butler
Summary: When a cat comes to Canada to escape his past, he meets Aeris and Leo. But, when suppressed memories come out through his dreams, he then must make a choice: fight for the new start, or return to the otherside...
1. Act 1: Settling In

__**Author note: This is my first story I'm writing, please, please, PLEASE leave some criticism for me, I'll like to improve and make this story as entertaining for the reader as best as I can. Thank you.**

A bus, rumbling down the snowy road stopped at the corner, the doors flung open and out stepped a golden cat, with a grey flat cap, his name was Jethro B. Mundy. He looked around, inspecting the cold winter environment.

_It's bloody cold out here…_ He started walking down the sidewalk; this was his first time with snow. He leaned his head back and stuck out his tongue, trying to capture the dancing snowflakes.

Then suddenly…WHAM! He was startled by the thud that hit his chest; he looked down to see a pink cat on the ground.

"OW! What the hell? Watch where you're going, dumb ass!" the pink cat snared.

Jethro look at the girl's blue eyes, and seemed shocked.

"Shannon..."

"What did you just call me?" the pink cat said, getting up.

The golden cat quickly recovered from his shock,

"Oh, sorry. My bad, I thought you were someone else."

"Well that's nice, now if you'll excuse me…..MY DS!" The pink cat, panicking like mad, started looking around for the handheld. Jethro just stared at her with a blank expression. "Hey! You need to help find it too, you know!" The golden cat was about to ask, why, but then realized that asking that would probably not be the best thing to say. So, he took a deep sigh, crouches down, and starts to sweep snow away lazily. About fifteen minutes later, he found the pink handheld, soaked in water, and snow.

"Oi! I found it!"

The pink cat rushed over and snatched the DS away from him, "Yeah, you're welcome…"

"ACK! It's fried!" she screeched. She instantly turn towards him and shouted "This is your fault! You're going to have to buy me a replacement!"

"Well, technically, this is your fault too. If ya haven't stuck ye eyes to that thing you coulda avoided me." Jethro said bluntly. Knowing that he had a point, she stumbled for words to say back.

"Yeah…well… I was the one who fell over and lost my DS, so you have more blame than me."

Jethro took another deep sigh; _this sheila ain't gunna give up till I pay for her stupid thing…._

"Aight fine, I'll buy you anotha DS."

"Yeah, about time!" the girl turned around, "Follow me, there's a GameStop close by here." The pink cat started to head down the sidewalk, Jethro kept a good distance between himself and the girl. About ten minutes later they arrived at the store. Jethro walked up to the counter, and ask for one DS.

"You want a certain colour?" the clerk asked. Jethro looked down at the impatient girl.

"Probably pink." He answered bluntly. The store clerk got the DS, and ringed it up.

"That'll be 154 dollars." Stated the store clerk, Jethro dug out his wallet, and pulled out two, one hundred Canadian dollars out of his wallet. The pink cat looked with astonishment at the amount of money. Jethro handed a plastic bag to the girl.

"Here ya go no hard feelin' eh?"

"Yeah, sure." She snatched the plastic bag, and headed out the store. The pink cat walked a few yards before she heard that same Australian accent once again.

"Oi! Sheila!" Jethro ran up to her. The girl pinched her fingers between her eyes, annoyed by the golden cat.

"Okay, look my name is Aeris, alright? So, stop calling me weird names." She said in an annoyed tone.

"Aight, Aeris… I need a new place to live. Ya know any houses o' apartments that I could rent out?" Aeris remember that the apartment next door to hers, is up for rent, but she had quite enough of this guy.

"Nope, sorry."

"Well, you think you could let me bunk at ya place?"

"Absolutely not."

"Come on, there's no way I'm sleepin' outta doors in this weather." At this point, Aeris was ready to sock him straight in the mouth. But then an evil smile came across her face.

"Okay, look…." She looked at him, her hand going in a circular motion, as if to cue him.

"Jethro."

"Alright, Jethro I'll tell you were you can find a place to stay, but only on one condition."

_Little bugga lied to me…_"Okay, shoot."

"You hand me all your money."

Jethro looked at Aeris with the same blank expression as before.

"Fine." He reached into his pocket and gave Aeris his wallet. Actually surprised that he accepted the deal, she opened to wallet to see the contents inside.

_There's like 900 dollars in here! _She checked the license, _Jethro Bentley Mundy, Age: 19, Resistence: New South Wales,_ there was another card in there yellowed from age; it read "Member of the AWP". She took two hundred out of the wallet and gave it back to him.

"Thought you were goin' to take all my cash." Jethro said, checking the wallet, and then putting back in his pocket.

"I changed my mind, follow me." She said. Jethro cocked an eye brow, then leaned his head back and followed Aeris. After about twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at the apartment complex. The two cats walked up towards the counter were an old grey cat was snoring away. Jethro was shocked to see the old cat.

"Hey! Old man!" shouted Aeris. The old cat woke up, "Dude here wants to rent the place next door to mine."

"Oh, well that's splendid, how do you do?" Jethro still staring at the old cat muttered something.

"Cabele…"

"What was that, sonny? Cable? Well of course we got cable." Replied the old man, Aeris snapped her fingers in front of Jethro's face. He instantly phased back into reality.

"Damn, that was some serious spacing out there." Aeris said.

"It happens." Jethro said, shaking his head a bit. The old cat whipped out some paperwork for the golden cat to sign. Aeris waited near the elevator. When he was finished with the paper work and gave the first month's rent to the landlord, he then walked into the elevator with Aeris.

"Well now I'm broke." Jethro stated, pushing the third button.

"It happens" said Aeris in her best Australian accent. Jethro glanced at her and she giggled, and then rolled his eyes in an "I don't care" fashion.

_At least she's getting' somewhat friendly… _

They walked out of the elevator doors and headed down the hall to the right. Passing through doors that looked all the same, until they reached two doors, #314, and #315.

"Okay here we are neighbor." Aeris said, "lets try and get along." She stuck her hand out.

"Yeah sure." Jethro clutched her hand, and shook it.

"Hey, look I know we went on a bad start, but why don't you come over tomorrow morning, and meet my roommate, although I'll have to warn you, he's a major retard."

"That sounds like aces." He said sarcastically.

"Cool, g'night" Aeris said, as she opened her door and went inside. Jethro did the same, and enter his new apartment. He took off his shoes, and walked down the dark hallway and into the living room. He sighed and sat down, leaned against the wall and placed his bag behind his head to make a makeshift pillow.

**Meanwhile…**

Aeris walked into her apartment, a grey cat with a bell around his neck sat on the couch playing Mortal Kombat.

"Hey Aeris, what took ya so long?"

"Hey Leo, well I ran into some guy, who is now our new neighbor." Aeris said. The grey cat hopped off the couch and ran up to her and got up into her face.

"We have a new neighbor?"

"Yes! Yes! Calm down, Christ." She said, and pushed him away.

"So, what's he like?"

"I don't know, he's tall, has gold fur, pretty indifferent attitude, and he's from Australia. "

"Wow, he sounds pretty cool."

"Yeah, but he seems kinda weird you know, I mean they guy had about 1100 dollars in his wallet."

"DAYUM, he's pretty stacked!"

"Yeah, and apparently he's part of some group I never heard of, called the AWP."

"Whoa, he's like, got some major mystery surrounding him man." Leo said, impersonating Shaggy.

"Ugh, shut up." Aeris said as she took off her coat and hat. She then put the plastic bag on the kitchen table. Instantly Leo's attention went towards it.

"So, what's in the bag man?"Leo asked, still doing the Shaggy impersonation, Aeris gave Leo a death stare," Okay, I'll stop."

"Well it's my new DS." Answered Aeris, she walked into the living room, and sat down on the couch.

"I thought you already had a DS." Said Leo, Aeris placed her hands on her forehead and her elbow on her knees.

"It's a long story, don't even ask."Leo, curious, walked over and sat next to Aeris; he sat there and pondered for about nine minutes.

"So…. your prostituting yourself to get DS's?"

"What? Freaking A, Leo." Aeris turned around and punched him in the arm.

"OW! HEY THAT HURT!"

**Back at Jethro's Apartment…**

Jethro had his hands over his ears,_ bloody whackas, no wonda these people left…_ He moved to a different room, where it was quieter, and then lay back against the wall again. He sat there for a good ten minutes. He couldn't sleep,and then he remembers Aeris's eyes, and how they were like hers, and the old landlord, who looked just like him…

_Shannon…Cabele…._

Then his entire life started going through his mind, like movie film, and he was the projector. He started to sweat and shake, and then he heard a voice:

_Ya need that cough syrup dontcha? _

"Nah, I don't need that, I don't do that no more…" he muttered to himself.

_Haha yeh just keep sayin' that mate, but it won't help ya_

"It's true, I don't need it, I'm different now…"

_Fine mate, but just remember I'll always be here, I'll neva disappear. Just say when, and I'll be back to take over again…_

Then he began to calm down, the voice was gone, the memories were gone, someone must of cut the film.

He sighed, placed his flat cap over his eyes, and slowly drifted into sleep.

_That's all behind me now, all those people…tomorrow, is a new day for me, I'll start new, I'll start fresh, I'll forget what I've done, and go on from there…that's a promise…_


	2. Act1, Dream 1:Cabele

**Author Notes: In case anyone gets confused, these are Chapters labeled "Dream" on them are flashbacks to Jethro's past, and allowing him to see them through a different perspective. There will a dream sequences every one or two chapters.**

Jethro opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. When he finally came to, he raised his head up, to see a place too familiar to him.

"Oh bloody, hell…." The entire world was black and white, and he was sitting at his kitchen table at his old home in Australia. He turned his head and was startled at what he saw.

"_G'day!"_ said another Jethro in a raspy voice, he sat across from Jethro.

"What the…." Jethro said, he then realized that the other Jethro was him, but when he was sixteen, "What is this? A memory, a dream?" he asked.

"_I don't know, but this is a quite a show."_ Young Jethro said with a smirk.

"Quit, playin' games with me, ya know damn straight what this is."

"_Haha, no seriously, I got no clue, I've neva knew."_

"What do you mean?"

"_Trust me…and then you'll see."_

"Tch no way I'm trustin' you."

"_Fine, but this is shit here, is all set in time."_

"So this IS a memory"

"_There ya go, mate."_

"Don't call me mate, I ain't ya mate." Snapped Jethro , Young Jethro look offended.

"_Huh? Why not, aint our true selves our bestest friends, I mean they're all ya got."_

"No, you're the devil, and I don't make friends with the demonic." Replied Jethro.

"_Well if I'm the devil, shouldn't I have horns ,and hooves. Sheared skin, and bushy beard?"_

"I see all that on ya." Then Jethro noticed a revolver on the center of the round kitchen table. He quickly reached for it, but material just went through his finger tips. Young Jethro smiled, amused almost, and picked up the revolver and spins it around his index finger.

"_Jealous?"_

"Tch, hardly…". Young Jethro put the revolver back where it was. The two Jethros stared at each other, like a Mexican standoff. Then there was knock at the door.

"_Oh, don't worry, I'll get it , don't be sorry, it's not too much work, since you can't touch or feel." _ Young Jethro got up and walked casually around table and opened the door. Jethro got up from his seat to see who it was. The door swung open and out from the murky abbess, an old grey cat, with brown eyes walked in.

"Cabele?" Jethro couldn't believe his eyes. He rushed up to grab him by the shoulders, but like the revolver, Cabele passed through him.

"_Ya, can't touch anythin', ya can't speak to anyone, ain't that a shame?" _ Young Jethro closed the door shut, and then looked at Cabele.

"_Jethro, my boy, you wanted to see me?" _asked Cabele.

"_Yeah" _ Young Jethro shot a quick glare at Jethro. Cabele look behind him, curious of what Young Jethro looked at, but then decided to forget about it.

"_I'm… sorry for ya loss, Jethro. I mean, ya mother was a good women, and ye sista…. her life was too short for this tragedy…"_

"_Yeah, thanks…." _ Young Jethro said, faking apathy. Cabele sighed he stood there shuffling his feet a bit. Looking for words to continue the conversation.

"_Tell me…Jethro, when do you plan, to bury your mother and sista?"_

"_I don't know, it neva occurred to me bury them." _ Young Jethro said. Jethro was shocked to hear his reply, but then only to remember why he said such a thing before in the past.

"_Oh…..I-I see…" _Cabele , too, was shocked to hear such a response, _"Well, how old was ya sista?"_

"_Around her early teens, maybe fourteen, thirteen, it doesn't matter now. She's dead just like any other person."_

"_O-oh…"_ Cabele sighed, he wiped his face with his hand, _"Jethro, me and my… good mates decided that this conflict had gone too far, between the NAAC and the Four Aces. Their fighting has caused two deaths on our own kin. So we've decided to no longa stay non-alignment, we shall fight against both groups."_ Cabele stopped, he looked at Young Jethro to see his reaction, he walked over and sat at his spot at the kitchen table and leaned back on the chair, Cabele continued, _"I know this is hard to ask to you, but we need every amount of man power we can get, we need you to help us fight." _Young Jethro just sat there, starring at Cabele, he yawned.

"_I had a feelin' you were goin' to say that." _ Young Jethro replied, _"Cabele"_

"_Yes, Jethro?"_

"_I'm surprised you didn't noticed the gun on the table, ya usually spot things like that."_

Cabele looked down at the table, he had fear in his eyes for a split second, but then quickly calmed down.

"_Ah, yes….that's a .357 revolver ain't it?"_

"_Yeah, I'm impressed." _ Young Jethro stopped leaning in the chair, and picked up the revolver and started to turn the cylinder.

"_Jethro…" _Young Jethro continued to turn cylinder, not even looking up. _"Are you off that cough syrup, Jethro?"_

He, stopped turning the cylinder, and then got up and pointed the gun at Cabele. The old cat did not look altered by the action.

"_Yeah, I finally gave up on that shit." _ Young Jethro started to walk towards Cabele, until he was point blank, with the gun pointed at Cabele's head. Jethro watched in silence and he wanted to speak, he wanted to yell "Run Cabele!" but he knew he wouldn't hear.

"_Jethro, I know what you're planning to do, and it might not work…killing me, and those other two leaders might resolve everything, but only temporarily….and when it raises up again, it will be even more catastrophic than now." _ Cabele said, calmly. Young Jethro continued to point the gun at Cabele. _"Jethro, I see that you are headstrong with your decision, and no matta what I say, it ain't gunna change ya mind…"_

"_Yeah…"_ Young Jethro adjusted his grip with the gun.

"_Jethro, do you believe in karma?"_

"_No…"_

Cabele chuckled, _"Oh course you don't, you weren't much of a religious boy… neither were ya fatha…Jethro, if you do this, will you be ready to face the consequences for your actions?"_

"_Sure."_

Cabele closed his eyes, _"Good…" _ , he then reached down and took out a cigarette, he lit it and took a long drag on it, as if he was taking his last smoke,_ "Jethro, if you were ever in a situation like this, again…how many times will you shoot, regardless if the man is dead or alive?"_

Young Jethro pondered the question, then answered, _"Probably 'till I'm satisfied with the squeeze of the trigger."_

Cabele smiled, _"Good answer…"_ Then suddenly the black and white world began to distort around Jethro, then he felt like he was being dragged through a tunnel, with the scene of himself and Cabele slowly shrinking away.

"NO! CABELE!" shouted Jethro, he wanted to move towards the scene but the unknown force wouldn't let him.

BANG!

Jethro saw Cabele's body shook by the bullet, he saw his blood all over.

"NO!" Jethro screamed

BANG!

Cabele's body fell to the floor, the image got smaller, and smaller through that tunnel.

BANG!

The motionless body recoiled from the bullet, more blood.

"NO! STOP!" Jethro covered his ears, and closed his eyes.

BANG!

The sound of the gun shot, and the spilling of blood ,echoed in the tunnel. Jethro still covered his ears and eyes. He crouched down, shaking his head.

BANG!

This time, the echo was unbearable, it continued over and over again. Then after awhile he didn't hear it.

Jethro opened his eyes, the world was all white. He's ears felt wet for some reason. He quickly uncovered his ears, and looked at his hands, they were covered in blood.

"Oh my god!" He then turned around and saw Young Jethro, blood all over his face and his clothes. He has the revolver in his hand, holding the barrel and sticking the grip into Jethro's hands.

"_Your turn."_ He said with an evil smile on his face.

Then Jethro got pulled back into the tunnel , back to the bloody mess. He closed his eyes, during that tunnel ride. When the pulling stopped, he was afraid to open his eyes, but he did. There, he had the gun in his hands, and looked down at the bullet riddled corpse of Cabele. His arm began to move on its own, pointing the gun at the body.

"No! NO! Stop!" screamed Jethro. His finger began to pull at the trigger, Jethro tried with his might, to stop it, but it was too much. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't, he wanted to close his eyes, but they wouldn't permit it. He watched, in horror as he pulled that trigger, launching that final bullet in to the body.

BANG!

_This is what I've done…. I can't escape it… even if I try…._


	3. Act 2: Making Friends

**Author Note: Anyways here's Act 2, and Dream 2 next, enjoy.**

Jethro woke up with a sweat, he was shaking. He got up and stumbled around, when he got his balance back, he looked for the bathroom. He found it and walked in, turned on the sink and washed his face. He took a look in the mirror, it was dirty and smeared. He wiped it with his wet hand. He saw his bed hair, always messy, hazy grey eyes like looking at fog, sags under his eyes like he's fifty.

_Damn…. _

He clenched his fist, the dressing, and medical tape around his left hand is soaked. He wanted to bust that mirror, he hated the way he looked, the times he had to pick up the pieces and glue them together, but the cracks will always show, no matter what, they're there. But he restrained himself; he looked away, and splashed his face with water again. He hesitated if he wanted to look up, he moved his eyes up, the reflection was black and white, and Cabele stood at his right, bloody and still filled with holes. He turned around to see nobody behind him; he gave a tired sigh, and stared back at the mirror. He then, remembered that Aeris invited him over to her place today. He walked out of his apartment, and went next door. He knocked the door twice. Leo opened the door.

"Hey, can help you?"

"Uh, yeah, ya roommate invited me ova here, I live next door..."

"AHHHH! So you're our new neighbor! How's it going man?" Leo thrust his hand out; Jethro was surprised at the cat's enthusiasm. He clutched his hand shook it. "Come on in, I'll give you the grand tour." The apartment was like his, but the placements of the rooms are different, they walked into the kitchen, there Aeris sat there eating some toast. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Morning, Jethro you sleep well in there?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Jethro rubbed the back of his neck. Aeris gave him a small look, but then shrugged it off.

"Well, that's good. I see you met Leo there." She tilted her head over at him, "He's a real handful isn't he?"

"I get a handful of myself all the time, if you know what I mean?" Leo nudged Jethro; he gave him a small smirk.

_What an anklebita…_

Aeris slapped her face, "Jesus, Leo, not when we have guests around…"

"Hey, it's not my fault if I'm a comedic genius."

"You're a major fuck up, that's what you are."

"Hey, now that hurts, I may have had a slight chance of being retarded, but I came out just fine."

"But you ARE retarded!" The two argued back and forth, Jethro just stood there, feeling extremely uncomfortable and awkward being in the middle of the verbal battlefield.

"Um…maybe I should go…" he said, looking eagerly at the door.

"What? Oh no, sorry Jethro, we didn't mean to make you feel awkward." Aeris said

"Yeah sorry bro, Aeris likes to start things up like this." Leo said, shrugging.

"What? Why you…" Aeris clenched her fists hard, steam coming out of her ears.

"Hey, Jethro lets go into living room and play some Xbox." Leo said, as he walked away. Jethro looked at Aeris, worried that she might explode, and accidently kill him in blinding fury.

"Uh, should we do something 'bout her?"

"Nah, she'll get over it." Leo called from the living room.

"O-oh, aight…" he cautiously stepped away, and walked into the room. Leo was sitting on the couch, he handed Jethro a black controller. Jethro grabbed it and sat next to him.

"So, what ya want to play?" Leo said.

"I don't know…what ya got?" Leo got off the couch and crouched down at the stack of games, and sorted the ones that have multiplayer on them.

"Let's see here….we got Call of Duty, Gears 3, Halo, Mortal Kombat, Army of Two…"

"Uh, let's play Call of duty" Jethro said.

"Alright", he popped the disc in, and sat on the couch, "So, what do you want to play?"

"How 'bout some deathmatch?" he said, he looked at how awkwardly he held the controller.

"You're on" The game counted down 3, 2, 1. After eight minutes, Jethro got rolled with a k/d of 2-38.

"Dang, dude you REALLY suck." Leo said, usually he would be celebrating a victory, but this time it was just sad.

"Sorry, mate I'm not much of a console playa…" he said as he tossed the controller on carpet.

"Ah, I see, so you a PC gamer?"

"Yup, played a lot when I was thirteen."

"Well, then in that case." Leo got up, "follow me." Jethro got up and followed him. They passed the kitchen, where Aeris was still, clenching her fists at the table, in rage. They walked into a hallway; Leo opened a door that had a pink room in it. "Here, go and log on to Aeris's computer, and open steam , and launch Team Fortress 2, go to favorites and click on the first server, alright? But only if you can crack her password, she doesn't like anyone reading her fanfic, especially me. So if you can get by it then we'll duel each other." He opened the door to his room.

"Uh, mate I don't think I wanna do that." Jethro said

"Why?"

"Well, Aeris doesn't look like she'd be happy to see me on her computer… plus I'm a little afraid to lose something vital."

"Reeeelaaax, she's usually locked up like that for a while, especially when guests are over." He walked into his room, and gave Jethro a thumbs up. He walked into Aeris's room, and turned on the computer. He waited for it to setup, and then clicked on user "Aeris". The password prompt came up. He thought to himself what it could be. He remembers Leo saying she doesn't like him reading her stories.

_The anklebita is pretty thick, so it's probably something like…_

He taped the keys, and pushed enter, the welcome sign came up. He followed Leo's instructions, and got into the game. He chose to be on RED team, and picked the soldier. A prompt came up saying that _leonardothen00bcrusher_ wanted to duel, he accepted it. After the game, Jethro won the duel, 10 points against 3 points. Leo left the game, and so did Jethro he turned off the computer and walked out of Aeris's room, and met up with him at the hallway.

"Dang, I SUCK." Leo said

"You weren't too bad, mate." Jethro said with a smile, "besides that fact that obvious spy, is obvious."

"Hey, now…"

"I'm kiddin' mate." Jethro walked out of the hall way, he looked into the kitchen, Aeris had recovered from her rage, she was sitting drinking coffee and playing with her new DS. She looked up and gave an embarrassed smile.

"Yeah, sorry about earlier today, Leo is just freaking annoying isn't he?"

"He's aight, I guess."

"Really? Doesn't annoy you one bit?" Aeris looked surprised. Jethro shook his head in reply, "Wow, you're probably the only sane person in the world that can tolerate Leo." Jethro gave a shrug; he looked at the microwave time, 7:45.

"Anyways, I'm thinkin' about headin' back." He said as he started walking out.

"Hey, wait! Jethro!" Aeris called. He looked back at her, "You know, me and Leo were going to go out to eat tonight; I was just thinking… would you like to join us?"

"Uh, I don't know…"

"Come on, I want to make it up to you for this morning. Pleeeeeeaaassee?" Aeris gave him a look a child would to its parents. For some reason, Jethro couldn't say no to that look. Aeris looked pleased with herself; she got up and called Leo then zipped up her jacket, "So does Chinese sound good to you?"

"Sure" Jethro said. Leo came into the kitchen.

"So, where are we going?"

"Ugh, Leo I told a million times, we're going out to the Chinese buffet."

"Oh, yeah that's right."

"Yeah, good job numnuts." Aeris said as she pinched her forehead, "And Leo, this time if you need to use the bathroom, just go without saying anything stupid, okay?"

"Sure thing!" Leo said. Aeris sighed and the three went out and were walking down the hallway to the elevator.

"Hey Jethro, what was Aeris's password?" Leo whispered.

"Password." Jethro whispered back. Leo look dumbfounded, and then face palmed himself.

"Dammit!" he said. Aeris turned around.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?"

"Nothin'" Jethro said as he looked at Leo. Aeris looked at them both suspiciously, and then she rolled her eyes, and pressed the elevator button. The elevator came up within seconds, and they stepped inside, Leo had his hand on his face still, he was muttering under his breath.

"Damn, that was so obvious; I can't believe I never thought of that, stupid, stupid me…"

Aeris looked at him, and cock her eyebrow.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" she looked at Jethro.

"Self-actualization" Jethro said bluntly. Aeris looked confused, as elevator doors closed.

_Making new friends here…cause the old one are over there, buried six feet under the dirt…or wanting me six feet under…_


	4. Act 2, Dream 2:Shannon

The elevator doors opened up, and the three stepped out, all looking satisfied from the delicious dinner they had.

"Damn, Mr. Chan knows how to make good ass food!" Leo said, rubbing his belly in delight.

"I'd say did you like the food Jethro?" asked Aeris.

"Yeah, I bogged into that buffet, and the food tastes like it was fresh off the barbie." Jethro said, with a smile. Aeris smiled back.

"Yeah, it's good shit." They walked down the hall, until they reached their apartments.

"Hey, Jethro you wanna do a little rematch on TF2? Now that I'm filled up and everything, I'll whip your ass on a duel." Leo said.

"Wait, how can you guys play against each other in Team Fortress 2 if we only have two computers…and what do you mean by "rematch"?" Aeris asked in angry tone.

"Oh, well… I mean, um you see…" Leo was fumbling for words to explain to Aeris. She looked like she was going to hit Leo, hard.

"I think you made her mad as a cut snake, mate." Jethro said to Leo.

"Leo, did you go on my computer?" she said in a threating tone.

"What, no! It wasn't me, it was Jethro!" Leo turned around to point at Jethro, but he was gone, "Jethro?" Aeris looked at Leo, she was cracking her knuckles.

"It's not nice to blame other people, Leo. Looks like I'm going to have to teach you a lesson…" she began to walk towards Leo.

"What? No! It wasn't me it was Jethro! Jethro! Come out here and save me!" he began to bang on Jethro's door. Jethro was behind the door, he was listening to the conversation until he heard what sounded like Leo's head on the wall next door and shouting, he decided to walk away.

_Sorry Leo, I'll pray for ya survival…_

He walked into the living room, and he did not realize how empty his apartment was. _Ah piss, I need a mattress._ He found his bag and made it his pillow once again, he lay on the floor. He was drowsy from the amount of food he ate, he quickly went to sleep.

Jethro couldn't see anything but pitch black, for about five minutes, he felt extremely light headed.

_Jethro….Jethro…_

He moaned, then suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his left cheek, he opened his eyes to see a dark smoky room. He's vision was slightly hazy, but he could see an orange cat in front of him.

"_Jethro! 'bout bloody time, ya woke up." _The orange cat said.

"W-what?" Jethro looked around, the world was black and white again, not only that but he felt numb, and giddy. The orange cat stuck his hand out; Jethro reached out, barely missing it. The other cat pulled him up.

"_Bloody hell, ya can't even balance didcha spike that purple drank with some amber fluid or somethin'?" _

"What?" Jethro felt like he was light as feather, the orange cat slapped him again.

"_Ya awake now?"_

"Y-yeah, I'm feelin' bonza…" Jethro said, a little dazed from being slapped but somehow better. He took a closer look at the orange cat, and saw it was his best friend.

"Marshal?"

"_Oh hey mate! Nice of ya to be back on earth!" _ Marshal said sarcastically, he whipped out a flyer into Jethro's face.

"What's this?" he asked

"_It's one of my bounties, mate."_

"Why, are you showing it to me?"

"_Cause ya gunna help me kill two birds with one stone, ya heard of that little phrase before, right?"_

"Yeah, I have. But, whadda mean by that?"

"_Mate, I thought ya said ya knew what it meant."_

"Would ya mind, stop being a drongo and tellin' me what ya up too?"

"_Aight, aight, well ya see, I got two bounties to take care of, but it just so happens that these two are very common to anotha. Now, they both have the same exact schedules ya see, they both leave for work at the same time, and eat lunch at the same time, AND place."_

"Aight so?"

"_So? SO? Mate these two are high priced because of some scandal group they were in a while ago and people are payin'heaps of money for vengeance. So if I can get the job done, I'll be rich even with the bounty split!"_

"Oh, really? So why do ya need my help for anyways?"

"_Well like I said, killing two birds with one stone."_ He took out a large bullet from his pocket and showed it to Jethro.

"That's one hellava bullet."

"_Ya damn, straight it is, it's a fifty cal bullet, it can pierce amour, so I'm pretty sure it can pierce through their heads."_

"So, what do ya want me to do, exactly?"

"_It's real easy mate, like countin' from A to Zed, just need ya to lure one of those dipsticks to the otha. That way from my vantage point, I'll be able to knock em both."_

"Well, couldn't I just shoot one and you shoot the otha?"

"_I was thinkin' that, but since ya buzzed, I don't think havin' you takin' shots would be a good idea."_

"Good point, mate. So where are they now?"

"_They're at the square, they should be eatin' lunch about now, at the café, I'll take a back route to my campin' spot, I need ya to have them be both outside of the café and standing beside each otha aight?"_

"Yeah, sure thing." Marshal gave Jethro a nod and started heading towards the back door. Jethro had just taken notice of his surroundings, a round courthouse. He could see other people, sitting on the benches looking dazed, and giddy, this was the headquarters for AWP, at its lowest moments. He found the double doors and opened them, the sun blinded him for a couple minutes, he's eyes adjusted and he walked out into the streets. The streets didn't look as good as the courthouse, there was litter, the sidewalk was cracking apart, the shops and buildings were in bad shape. Despite the fact that Jethro went through these streets every day in his teenage years, it feels like he hasn't been here at all. He looked around trying to remember how to get to the square.

"_Mr. Mundy, you look distraught!" _ Jethro turned around to see a big dark grey cat.

_Ah great…The guy that's build like a brick shit house…._ Jethro thought to himself, "Yeah, I can't seem to remember how to get to the square from here, ya mind helpin' me out Mick?"

Mick began to chuckle, _"Heheh, you really should lay off the lean a bit ya know, it ain't good for ya to take too much." _

Jethro growled a bit, he hated Mick, he was Cabele's right hand man, and substituting for him since he became extremely ill. He was the one who agreed to have the contractors pay the member in drugs rather in money without even telling Cabele, said it would help ease the pain for the majority of the members, in these dark times. Even though Jethro wanted to get rid of Mick, he couldn't, cause he was hooked on that drug, cough syrup, and he knew well that it was Mick, who was the one to decide who got what drug, and how much of it. Jethro knew that he was a sitting duck, and couldn't do anything about it; he started to feel the kind of hurt he felt back then, not able to do anything, high on drugs, didn't work and didn't care. But he bottled up those emotions.

"Just tell me how to get there Mick, and we can both be on our way." Jethro sneered.

"_Sure thing, anythin' for a trusted member of the Australian Worker's Party"_, he had smirk on his face,_ "it's about 4 clicks to ya right."_

"Thanks…." Jethro said, he turned around and walked away, he can feel Mick staring at him from behind, with that same smirk on his face. After walking for seven minutes he arrived at the square, it was very large tiled open area, there were shops along the perimeter of the square, and had several fountains, and benches, there was a large monument in the center of the square, a monument that notifies the splitting line between the city. He currently was on the so called "bad" side of the city, looking for the café; he wandered around until he was at the dividing line on the monument. He's vision was still hazy, but looked around until he heard his name called once again.

"_Jethro!" _ He looked where he heard his name, and saw a young girl, tan fur, grey flat cap, and blue eyes.

"Shannon?" Jethro looked surprised, "What are you doing here?" he asked he started to walk towards her; she began to fidget and shout.

"_Don't come any closer, Jethro!" _ she put her hand in her bag, Jethro stopped walking towards her.

"What's in the bag, Shannon? What do you want from me?" Jethro shouted to her.

"_I want my brother back, I want my family back!" _ she shouted tears started to fall from her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"_You know damn straight what I mean, you're not my brother anymore, you're a monster! You killed him, you killed my brother!" _ she began bawl, _"I have no one left, mum's dead, dads dead, I'm just alone, in this crazy world!"_ The people at the square started to circle around them.

"Shannon, I know how you feel, I don't feel like myself anymore! I want mum back too, and dad!" Jethro said choking up, those bottled emotions are going to pop open that cap. Shannon hung her head down, her hat fell off, she was shaking her head side to side.

"_No,no,no,no,no you don't know, you don't how I feel, you don't have heart, its frozen, and it doesn't beat anymore." _Jethro didn't know what to say, instead he started to walk slowly towards Shannon. She noticed him coming, and panic. She then took out her hand from her bag, and held a revolver.

"_Stay back! O-or I'll kill you, I'll kill you, and kill myself!" _ her eyes poured with tears, her entire body was shaking. The people around started to run away, sounds of sirens can be heard from a distance.

"P-put down the gun Shannon, nobody is goin' to die today, neither me or you, okay? Just put the gun down, and let's forget about this, and let's try to make it through."

"_FORGET ABOUT IT? HOW CAN I FORGET?" _ she screamed.

"I-I-I-I don't know, but we need to stick togetha Shannon, please." Jethro continued to walk towards her, until he was right in front of her. He bends down and picked up her hat, and sticks his hand out, as a peaceful gesture, "please…"

"_Y-y-you remember what dad said, when the A-AWP told him, bout this job of theirs?" _she asked. Jethro took some time to think, but he couldn't remember he shook his head, _"They said that i-i-in the end the gun is their only friend, the only family t-they'll ever have…"_

"Well, that's not true Shannon, we got each otha, we're still family, and we don't need a lousy gun, so hand it ova, and let's go home." Jethro said passionately, Shannon slowly handed the gun to Jethro, "That's it, come here now…" Jethro stopped and noticed the world began to go into slow motion, he looked around he was going in normal speed, then he heard a gunshot, he slowly saw a bullet travel behind Shannon's head, he reached out with his left hand to try to take the hit, but it went through his palm, making a large hole in it, he grunted in pain. He watched as the bullet went through Shannon's head and out through her forehead, his face covered in her blood, Jethro moved his head before the bullet could kill him; Shannon's body collapsed in his arms, and time began to go back to normal. He fell to his knees, screams can heard everywhere, he turned her over on the ground, and looked at her, her blue eyes had lost their hue.

"SHANNON!" Jethro cried, he shook the body, "SHANNON! SHANNON! SHANNON!" he dropped his head on her chest, and held both his hands in hers. He was bawling, he lifted his head up and took one last look at her, he closed her eyes, picked up the gun, her hat and ran off.

_That bullet….that bullet…it was huge, fifty caliber…we were the targets…_

Jethro ran as fast as he could, the world became to fade away, he felt slower, and slower, until he was back into pitch darkness, probably sipping that syrup once again.

_This is what I have faced…I can't look away from it….cause it will always be there ,staring me straight in the eye…._


	5. Act 3: Relapse, part 1

**Author Notes: Finals are over for me, so now I had some time, to write Act 3 so here ya go, enjoy. (Oh and by the way, happy belated Australia day!)**

Jethro sat in the tub, with the shower on, tapping his finger on the side of tub. He stared into nothingness pondering what's going on with him and these dreams. A knock on the door unfocused him, he looked into the direction of the noise, and then slowly got up and turned the shower off. He dried up and was putting on some clothes; there was another knock on the door.

"I'm comin' aight!" he shouted from the bathroom, he quickly went out, not even looking in the mirror again, to see the monochromic reflection, and to see Cabele and Shannon watching him walk by. He opened the door, Aeris and a badly beaten Leo was standing outside.

"Hey, Jethro I was going to take Leo to the hospital, because of last night but I thought I would at least bring along someone to talk too during the visit." Aeris said.

"But, you could talk to me" Leo said bleakly.

"No, I'm still ticked off at you letting Jethro use MY computer" Aeris responded back, Leo coward away, "So, you want to tag along?"

"Suuurre I guess…" Jethro said.

"Cool let's go then." Aeris said happily. The trio went outside and took a bus to the hospital; they arrived there and checked in, and went to the waiting room. It was like waiting for lottery, to get your name called to hit the jackpot, they waited fifteen minutes until the nurse came out to call another name,

"Leo!" the nurse called out.

"Fuck, about time." Aeris said, as they got up. The group followed the nurse and watched her measure Leo's height, and weight, then followed her to the doctor's room. Inside the nurse asked Leo some basic medical questions, and then left. "Oi, Ima gunna go take a leak." Jethro said as he opened the door and walked out. He started to walk towards the bathrooms, and went inside and took a leak in the urinals. When he was finished he turned around to see Aeris there standing in front of the door blocking the way. "Are girls allowed in the little boys' room, here in Canada?" Jethro asked jokingly. Aeris chuckled a bit.

"No, but I thought this might be a good time to ask you some questions." She said, Jethro looked at her for a while, and then went to sinks to wash his hands.

"I don't need to answer any ya questions." He said bluntly, as he dried his hands and walked towards Aeris, "So, why don't ya move outta the way so we can go back to Leo's room."

"No, you're going to answer any questions I have for you."

"Tch, ya think you can keep me locked here in the washroom?" he said, towering above Aeris.

"You may be taller than me Jethro, but I can sure as hell bet that I'm stronger than you." She said cracking her knuckles, Jethro wasn't dumb enough to challenge that, since he saw what she did to Leo. He lifted his hands in surrender.

"Aight, fine shoot ya questions." He said leaning against a toilet stall, Aeris gave a smirk in victory.

"Alrighty then, first of all is 'Jethro' your real name?"

"Yup, Jethro Bentley Mundy, my legal name givin' to me by my ….parents." he looked down on the floor, Aeris looking at him with curiosity, but she continued.

"What does the AWP stand for?"

"The Australian Worker's Party."

"What is it?"

"A union of workas."

"Is that true?"

"No, on the outside that's what it is, in reality its group of hitmen."

"Hitmen?"

"Yeah, started in 1796 in the Penal Colony of New South Wales, and durin' that time, there was harsh treatment of the convicts. So afta most of the convicts got their certificate of freedom, they grouped up and decided to plot their revenge on some British army men, so they went out an assassinated them. After that, otha convicts who were free from their sentence went to the group and ask them, even paid them, to a kill certain Brits who gave them hell, and that how it pretty much started."

"So, you're a hitman?"

"Yeah, I am."

"How many, people did you kill?"

"'Bout eleven people." Aeris's face turned white for a second.

"So, why are you here, in Canada for?" Jethro gave a big sigh; he rubbed his face with his hands.

"I'm…just tryin' to escape from everythin'…from everyone I knew…"

"Oh…" Aeris looked apologetic. Jethro got off from the stall and walked over to Aeris.

"Let's go, Leo is probably wondarin' where we are." Aeris nodded and opened the door, they both walked out. As soon as they did, the toilet stall on the far left opened up and a cat walked out. He reached into his pocket, to get his phone, and dialed a number on it. He waited for a couple seconds, until someone picked up.

"Yeah, I think found him." The cat said.

"Are ya sure?" person on the phone asked.

"Yeah, I'm positive, I heard the bloke say his name, 'Jethro Bentley Mundy'."

"That's the bloke all right."

"So, ya want me to get him?"

"No, not yet, he's wanted by NAAC, AWP, and the Four Aces. Makin' the arrest now will just bring attention to those guys. Just wait and we'll see how things go."

"Aight." The cop ended the call; he went over to the sinks to wash his hands. Another stall door opened slightly and another cat in a suit came out with a crude metal mask on, he crept behind the other one, with a silenced pistol and shot the cop in the back three times, then covered the wounds quickly to avoid any blood being split, then he dragged the cop into the stall, propped his legs on the toilet paper dispenser, closed the stall door and slapped a "Out of order" sign on it, took off the mask, and left.

It was night, and Jethro, Aeris, and Leo were sitting on the couch channel surfing, until they past the new channels for the fourth time.

"Why isn't there anything to watch today?" Leo asked, "All there is the news."

"Yeah, you think there's something up?" Aeris asked, still flipping through the channels.

"Well, let's see what's goin' on then." Jethro said, he took the remote from Aeris and changed to a random news station.

"…the developing story behind three recent murders is still in the way here, police and crime scene investigators are trying to figure out who could be responsible for this…"

Aeris and Leo were surprised to hear that three murders have happened in their city, but Jethro pretended to look surprised since death was like a movie he's seen too many times.

"Holy shit! Three murders? That kind of stuff never happens here!" Aeris stated in shock.

"Oh my gawd, this is some serious stuff." Leo said. The anchor women continued with the story;

"…the three deceased were identified as Corporal Benjamin Buokedale of the Sydney Police Department, Nate Hille, and Logan Cheswick. All of the victims were from Australia, in the state of New South Wales, and ALL were armed with weapons. Nate Hille was also identified as a member of Nation Australian Authority Committee or NAAC for short, and Logan Cheswick was also identified as a member of the Four Aces…", Jethro looked worried this time, _shit what the hell are they doin' here?, _"…so far that is all the information that we have collected, if anything comes up we will report ASAP, police officials recommend staying inside your homes, and calling 911 if any suspicious activity is going on in your neighborhood…". Jethro got up from the couch, and started walking towards the door.

"Jethro?" Aeris called, she had a feeling that the news must have upset him.

"Where's he going?" asked Leo.

"I don't know…" she said, she gave a sad sigh.

Jethro busted through his apartment door, sweat was pouring down his face, and he walked quickly to the bathroom, and splashed water on his face. He looked into the mirror again and saw the monochromic reflection again, Shannon and Cabele were telling him something, but he couldn't hear them. He could only make out from reading their lips _They're coming for you, he's coming for you…_ Jethro clenched his fists and punched the mirror. Shards of stained red blood glass sparkled in the bathroom light; everything Jethro saw now was black and white. He walked out of the bathroom, and sat down, not even bothered by blood pouring down his knuckle. He sat down next to his bag, and opened it. He took out a clear plastic brown bottle, he held it to moon light seeping down from the window, and a thick red liquid can be seen inside. He moved the bottle in a circular motion to see the red liquid dancing and tumbling inside, as though it wanted out. He watched the bottle for a long time, he wanted it, and he wanted to hide so he can't see his dreams. The vision of the bottle became blurry, and he's eyelids were closing.

_Keep me up, keep me up, keep me up….._


	6. Act 3, Dream 3: Rehab

"_When you look in a mirror, do you see the otherside?_

_Do you see yourself? Or someone else?_

_Do you see the guilt and shame, the lies and secrets that remain?_

_That hide in the mind; never dare to share with the world?_

_To see the man in the mirror, tied and wrapped, thrown in a coffin closed and nailed_

_Chained all around, and padlocks placed so the man can never be bailed_

_Thus buried in the ground, and set fire to the grave._

_When I look in a mirror do I see the otherside?_

_Yes! Yes! I see me. Torn and cracked, broken and tossed aside_

_I killed myself! Oh I have killed him! I am no longer the man in the mirror, not even by the name_

_In my deluded self I scream murder, murder! And break the mirror, the terror is over but I still stay unnamed, anonymous, and unidentified. I will be for the rest of life_

_I shall never look into a mirror again, for the otherside is truthful, and will show no end…"_

"_I see my peoples' dreams die, I see them live lies_

_And the days I see the same scene wasted…"_

"_The soul is the tank, the mind is the lighter, the body is the casing_

_and those drugs are the fluid..."_

"_The nights are the worst they make you see demons in the dark…"_

"_The mornings are the worst the people that look, and shake their heads and play god with you_

_while you beg for mercy on sore knees, and shout for pleas that will not be heard…"_

"_They are not gods, they are just people…"_

"_If they aren't gods then they're the real demons! They look at you and believe that you deserved the pain, and the suffering of not having a home, not having a life, not having a family, not having ANYTHING! At all…"_

"_Now that's just not right, you can't blame the average person..."_

"…_tears that never end_

_the hours that you can't demand_

_this life is no longer by me_

_they're all pulled by some strings_

_puppets that never last_

_torn and broken once again, the stitches hurt more than they mend_

_and the days go by and I'm wishing that I live again before I hit the end…"_

"_Can the only thing that kid do is sing?..."_

"_I think it's lovely…"_

"_It's depressing…."_

"_Yo Damien!..."_

"_Hey, what about that kid over there? He's been sleeping through anotha meeting!..."_

"_Jethro!...Jethro!...can someone wake him up?..."_

"_Here I'll help…"_

"…_they're fitting three people coffins _

_Cause the cemeteries are running outta room_

_No one bothers to bury, no bother to prey…"_

"_You know, have you eva looked into the sky and see a much betta place than were you are now, where you can watch your family, and see them grow…?"_

"_Henry stop talkin' like that, ya scarin' me…"_

"_Going to pull the chair, out of this kids arse, the fall will wake him up…"_

"_That's a little harsh mate…"_

"_Got a betta idea?..."_

"_Well we can…."_

"_I see this way to be much more efficient…"_

"_1…"_

"…_and when I look in the moon…"_

"_2…"_

"…_all I see that is something soon…"_

"_3!..."_

"…_that I'll be me again, and then run away off to a distant land."_

THUNK!

"_He's not getting up mate…"_

"_Good on ya, you killed him…"_

"_I did not!..."_

"_Probably just blacked out…"_

"_Oh, no wait, he's opening his eyes!..."_

Jethro looked up to see a bunch of faces staring down at him, he remember these faces as his group members for a progress thing in rehab, he's head is killing him.

"_Oi, mate this is supposed to be a group meetin'"_ said Derek

"_Yeah, a twelve step progress, only thing is, your still on step numba two." _ Said Hallie

"_Come on let's get em up."_ Zeke said while handing Jethro his hand, he grabbed it and got on his feet.

"So, what did I miss?" Jethro asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"_Same old stuff, Damien singin', Billy complain' and blamin' the people, Henry talkin' weird things again, you sleepin' through anotha meetin"_ answered Mack.

"Yeah okay" Jethro said, it's been two months after Shannon's death, the police found him at home, high on the lean, they arrested him for possession of illegal narcotics, and sent him to a drug rehabilitation, he was glad at first cause he thought it might help him quit on the cough syrup, but so far he's hated every bit of it. Jethro picked up the chair and propped it up, and sat down on it, everyone returned to their seats.

"_Alright, now that we're settled let's talk about some of the struggles we faced, and how coped with them." _ Ellis said, he was one of the consolers, _"anybody would like share?"_. Camille raised her hand, Ellis nodded at her.

"_Well, what I've done is…"_ but she was cut short, when a nurse opened the door, and entered the room.

"_Is there a Jethro Mundy here?"_ asked the nurse, Ellis pointed to Jethro,_ "You have visita right now,would you like to finish your meeting Mr. Mundy or…"_

"Nah, I'm good, I'll go." Jethro responded quickly, he got up walked out of the circle of chairs.

"_Lucky…"_ Derek mumbled to Jethro, he just slapped him on the shoulder.

"_See you next meetin' Jethro, and next time, try to stay focus in the discussions please?"_ Ellis called to him, Jethro waved in response, he walked out of the room with the nurse and went to visiting quarters, there were multiple tables and chairs, and windows on the left wall.

"_The man there in black suit, and dark grey fur ova there would like to see you, Mr. Mundy."_ The nurse pointed to a table on the far left of the room, Jethro looked to see who it was.

_Ahhhh hell…._ Jethro saw that the cat over there was Mick, but he went over there to talk to him anyways. He went up the table and pulled a chair out and slouched in it

"What do ya want?" Jethro said bluntly, Mick sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"_Ya still same as eva Jethro"_

"Thanks"

"_That wasn't a compliment, mate."_

"No, really Mick why are ya here to talking to me? Shouldn't ya be "leading" the AWP?"

"_I would be, but Cabele has made a…remarkable recovery, so now he's back in charge."_ This news perked up Jethro.

"Really?" he said in disbelief.

"_Yeah, he did, but he's real snake tongue bastard."_ This angered Jethro, he sat up straight.

"What the hell did ya call him?"

"_A snake tongue bastard_ _ya heard me"_ Jethro wanted to punch Mick, but he restrained himself from doing so.

"Now why the hell makes you say that?" Jethro said through clenched teeth.

"_Because he set us up! Hell he set everyone up!"_

"How?", Mick sighed.

"_Look, this is gunna hurt me more than its gunna hurt you, mate. Cause I know Cabele close to ya, he's help ya and family greatly eva since Neil, ya fatha, got gunned down by the cops."_ Jethro looked at Mick with astonishment, he's never been this nice him before, since both of them hate each other's guts,_ "now Cabele been plannin' this out for a while back, the AWP as ya know, has seen betta days. Now he planned to get rid of the AWP and as well as key members of the group, so first he PRETENED to be ill, that why he can't be accused of anythin', then he promotes me to sub for him as the leader, which I agreed to."_

"This sounds like a load of bull, Mick." Jethro interrupted him.

"_For god's sake mate, at least LISTEN!"_ Mick sounded irritated, so Jethro let him continue,_ "now, I've always wanted to be a great leader like he was, he inspired me, ya know, I looked up to him. So I accepted the job and lead the group with pride. It wasn't until a couple weeks after I started runnin' the gig when Cabele wanted me to deliver a letta to Abe Ruckinbel, aka the leada of the NAAC. At first I rejected the idea of goin' there, but eventually Cabele convinced me. When I asked him what was in the letta, he told me it was peace offerin' for him, I nearly exploded. To make amends with the enemy? I objected the idea, but once again Cabele convinced me, howeva I found out later the letta was actually an agreement to let him have a high post in NAAC if he agreed to diminish the AWP. Anyways it was afta that when the contractas where paying my men with drugs, I didn't know this kinda shit was goin' on durin' that time, but when nearly everyone was doin' some kind of drug, I didn't know how to stop them. So I went to cabele for advice, he told me a good leada keeps his cool, and acts normal in dire situations. He told me scout out for the contractas who are payin' the members in narcotics, so I followed his advice and kept to my usual cool headed self."_

"Ya mean bein' a cocky prick?"

"_I prefer the term confident…" _ Mick said, giving an evil stare, _"anyways, I must admit, it felt kinda amusin' see ya doped up and stuff like that, but that was before, ya know, when I hated ya. But movin' on, Cabele apparently went on to contact ya best friend Marshal, he told him if he can kill you and ya sista, he'll pay him greatly. It was pretty smart to ask ya best mate, I mean who's goin' doubt their best and closest friend? So he was perfect for the job, but as we know, he succeeded partially…"_ Mick stopped to look at Jethro's reaction, he was just staring down at the table, absorbing the information he's told.

"Hey, Mick…" he finally said.

"_Yeah?"_

"What happened to Marshal anyways?"

"_Well as soon as I heard the news that Shannon was killed and Marshal was the one responsible, me and my close mates went out to hunt him down, we caught the bastard tryin' to leave the country. We all were about shoot him, until he told us that he would tell us valuable information if we let him live. So the lil' squeala told us everythin' I'm tellin' ya now, afta that we shot him anyways." _Mick started to chuckle, but then immediately cleared his throat and went to being serious again, _"anyways that's all I got tell ya, for now at least."_ Jethro looked up at Mick, with a meak smile.

"Ya know, Mick, I neva thought I'll say this to ya, but you're a good bloke" Mick, just nodded at him.There was silence for a couple minutes, both feeling slightly awkward now being friends.

"_So, how long are ya being cooped in here?" _Mick said, to finally break the silence.

"They told me I'll be here for at least a year and a half." Jethro said.

"_Wow, that's a long time." _Mick turned to his right to look out the window, it was a bright sunny day, _"I bet the people here don't tell ya about what goin' on, on the outside world they do?"_

"Nope, not really. How is it out there anyways?"

"_There's a lot of fightin' goin' on between NAAC, and the Four Aces. Not only that, but Cabele been talkin' about havin' the AWP joinin' the fight , which is bonkas, we don't got the man powa or even the state of mind to fight a war like that. But that's just probably a way to speed up his plans." _Mick said cracking his neck.

"Does he know that I'm in rehab?" Jethro asked, Mick looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.

"_No…why?"_

"I'm just wonderin' that's all" Mick gave him a suspicious look, he was about to say something when the nurse came into the room.

"_Visting time is ova gentlemen"_ she called. Mick and Jethro got up from their chairs.

"_Look mate, I'll be honest with ya, by the time you get outta here, I'll probably be dead, there some major shit goin' on outside of this ward, people are gettin' killed left and right, I'll probably be one of them soon enough_. _I just want to say before I go that's been nice knowin' ya."_ Mick held out his hand, and Jethro shook it.

"Same here, mate." Mick gave him a slap on his shoulder, and walked out of the room. Jethro stood there for a while looking at the glass windows.

"_Mr. Mundy, visiting time is ova, please come with me to dorms."_ Jethro slowly walked by the nurse, continuing to look at the glass windows.

"_Did you have a good chat Mr. Mundy?"_ asked the nurse.

"Yeah, I did." Jethro said, still looking at the windows, the nurse lead him to the dorms.

That night, Jethro got up from his bed, and carefully got dressed, and walked out of the dorms, he quietly sneaked through the hallways, and into the visiting room, there he looked at the glass windows. He picked up a chair and walked over to the windows, he tapped the glass with the leg of the chair. Then he moved back and threw it hard as he can through the window, the glass shattered and sparkled like water in the moon light, he crawled through and ran as fast he can, lights were being turned on and sounds of shouting can be heard, but Jethro just kept on running.

_Ya did me a favor Mick by, tellin me all the info and getting' rid of bastard I called a friend, now I'll do you favor, and get rid of that bastard we called we called our "leader"._


	7. Act 3: Relapse, part 2

Once again a knock, awaken Jethro. He looked around for the bottle, he found it and held it up to the moonlight, the thick liquid was still there, he sighed. _I didn't take any of it…_ he put the bottle back in his bag, and got up and stumbled towards the door. He fumbled with the knob and got it open finally, Aeris was standing outside, with a pink robe on.

"Aeris? W-what ya doin' here?" He asked with sleepy confusion.

"I couldn't sleep, seeing the news and knowing that a murderer is lurking around your neighborhood, is a little scary you know?" Aeris looked embarrass, "I would have gone to Leo for some comfort, but he's a heavy sleeper so I couldn't wake him up."

"So, ya decide to go to me." Jethro said Aeris nodded. He turned around, "come in, I guess". Aeris walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Can we turn on the lights, its dark in here?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure." Jethro sidled the wall with his hands, until he felt the light switch, he turned it on and the room instantly light up. Aeris noticed Jethro's blood stained hand.

"The hell happened to your hand?" she asked, pointing at it. Jethro just noticed it as well, and looked at it.

"Uh, I _accidently_ broke the bathroom mirror."

"Accidently?" Aeris cocked her eyebrow.

"Aight fine, I purposely busted it up."

"Why?"

"It's a long story…" Jethro went over to the bathroom to wash his stained hand, Aeris followed him and leaned against the door frame, she was shocked to see the broken glass all over the floor. Jethro swept the glass away with his foot, and turned on the sink. He began to wash his hand, the stains slowly washed away. There was silence expect for the running water. Jethro got most of the stains off, but his hand kept a reddish tone, he grunted and grabbed a towel. He walked out and Aeris followed, he sat down on the floor and she followed suit and sat next to him. Again, there was a silence between both of them, he looked over his shoulder at Aeris, she looked worried and scared.

"So, ya scared?" He said, to break the silence.

"No, I'm not scared." She said defensively.

"Usually if someone wants comfort, they're scared"

"Okay, maybe I'm just a little scared."

"Well don't be, even if ya scared, ya gotta keep ya cool, ya gotta put on a brave face, and make the people around ya feel safe." He said, giving Aeris a small smile.

"Yeah…I guess you're right." She said, she gave him a smile as well. The two then, went back to an awkward silence again, "Jethro?" Aeris asked, Jethro looked at her, she hesitated for brief moment, but went on, "What happened to you, to make you want to run?" Jethro stared at her, for a while, and then looked up at the ceiling.

"Guilt, shame, hurt, loss…" Jethro hung his head down. Aeris looked at him with sympathy, "I killed for money, but one time, I killed in cold blood…", Aeris looked at him, in shock, "his name was Cabele, I looked up to him, eva since my father committed suicide by cop. He helped me and family out a lot, but then he betrayed everybody, includin' me and my family, in fact he tried to kill my entire family, and he succeeded, so I had to avenge everybody, I felt like I was the only one who could do it, so I shot him, six times." , Aeris looked at him astonishment, but then looked up at the ceiling as well.

"So, you're an escaping from murder?"

"No, that's only a small part of it. I killed two otha men, ya know those groups those dead blokes on the news were affiliated with?" Aeris nodded in response, "Well, I went out to kill their leaders too, I thought I could fix everythin' and end the killin' and violence, but now that I think about it, tryin' to stop the killin' with more killin', kinda silly ain't it?" Jethro looked at Aeris for a reaction but she still looked at the ceiling, "But anyways, I had otha reasons for runnin'." He reached in his bag and pulled out the bottle, and showed it to her, and she took it and examines it, "I was also druggy, I sipped that cough syrup almost every day, getting' high and stuff like that, anyways I was really sippin' that stuff after my sista, Shannon, was killed right in front of me. But the cops found me at home high on that shit, so they send me to rehab, but afta two months I escaped, and went out to kill Cabele." Jethro stopped, and sighed, he wanted to break down and cry. Aeris looked at the ceiling still, Jethro wondered if she was even listening, but then she brought her head down and looked at him. The two of them stared at each other for a while.

"You, have sad life, I'm sorry for trying to pry before, I didn't think that you went through hell."

"No worries, we're friends , so its fine. You can ask any question since I pretty gave you my life story, and I've been, I guess reviewin' them all."

"W-what about your mother Jethro?" Aeris asked, Jethro realized he forget about his mother, but the memories came back.

"My motha, she was a nice, and beautiful woman. Afta my fatha died, Cabele started to help us out a lot, but when he got "ill" these people came to our house, and demanded that my motha paid the debts that my fatha had on them. Apparently, since the AWP was in complete ruins my fatha secretly did jobs for the NAAC , but he didn't join them, he only did jobs for them to get the money to support us. But the thing is, is that they had fees for him, ammo fees, contracta fees, a fee for workin' for them as a third party memba. He thought that if he did enough bounties he could pay them all off, but he was wrong, so the debt was on us. My motha told politely that we didn't have the money to pay, and told them that these "debts" were ridiculous and that they should leave, so then they…t-they beat her. Me and my sista took her to the hospital and we were so worried, it hurt to see her beaten and bleedin', but as soon as she came out, she gave us treats, and smiled at us saying 'it was goin' to be all right', and she cooked us our favorite meals. Every week those three men came over demandin' the same thing, and mum she just said same thing, in the same polite manna, and once again, they beat her down, with fists, and kicked her when she down, used the butt of their guns. But every time she would pick herself up, and patch herself up again, even with scars, bruises, bandages, black eyes, she would always smile at us and act as though nothin' happened. She would tell me to get some money outta her purse and told me to go to the store and buy a treat for me and my sista, I didn't want to, I wanted to stay home, and take care of her, but she insisted and soona or later I would go." Jethro paused, he wiped his face, he looked at Aeris, "you want to hear the rest?" he asked.

"It's up to you, I don't want to pry you of anything." She answered, Jethro nodded at her, and decided to continue.

"Well, I remember sometimes that those guys would beat her so badly that she had to crawl, sometimes me and my sista had to help her move around. It hurt a lot to see her deteriorate like that, I mean the human body can only take so much, eventually her body was at the end of the line. Afta one harsh beatin' she couldn't move, and me and sista helped her up on the couch, my sista always cried durin' those times, and she brought the first aid kit ova, I took and I was goin' to patch her up, but I noticed that her beathin' was irregula, it was heavy and short, asked what's wrong she couldn't even talk, she looked like she was in serious pain, so I called for an ambulance, they came ova and me and sista went inside with her and the paramedics, I asked them what was wrong, they told me it seemed that some of mum's ribs were broken, and were puncturin' one of her lungs from blunt force trauma, although they said they're weren't sure, but the bruises and scars were dead giveaway. So they cut a slit in the side of her chest and stuck a tube in there and a bunch of blood started to drain out into a bucket, my sista looked away immediately, but I watched, then suddenly one of the paramedics shouted "the chest tube is clogged!" everyone was rushin' around, someone said the blood pressure or somethin' was decreasin', and I saw there was a huge vein on the side of mum's neck, one of the paramedics told anotha to check her heartbeat, they said it was muffled and distant, everyone turned white, then one said it was 'Beck's Triad' and that they didn't have the equipment or time to save her…" Jethro stopped, he took a deep breath, and hung his head. Aeris took his hand, and gave him a sympathetic smile, Jethro looked at her and gave a smile back, "thought I was supposed to give you some comfort" Jethro said.

"Well you did" Aeris said, she got up off the floor, "well I'm feeling better now, so I'm going go back now, thanks Jethro." Jethro, just nodded to her, she waved and walked out. Jethro sat there for a long time, he picked up the bottle and looked at it, then he unscrewed the cap.


	8. Act 4:Secrets

**Author's Note: This was a long Act, but I finally decided to overcome my laziness and wrote it. Yay for me, I guess...Anyways hopefully you'll enjoy this, and write a review if you wish.**

A bottle, half empty, laid still on the floor, Jethro was still sleeping soundly. After a while he woke up, he felt refreshed, possibly the best sleep he got since coming over to Canada. He got up and went over bathroom to wash his face, but he saw the broken glass still on the floor. He turned around and went to the kitchen sink instead; afterwards he decided to go over next door to see what's up. He went out and knocked on his neighbor's door. Leo opened the door.

"Oh, hey Jethro how's it going, man?" he asked

"Doin' good mate, mind if I come in?"

"Sure, but be little quiet, Aeris is still sleeping." Leo moved out of the doorway to let Jethro in, then carefully closed the door, "so what do you want to do?"

"How, bout a rematch on the Xbox, I think I got a hang of it." Jethro said, Leo smirked and motioned Jethro into the living room, there the two cats sat down and started up the Xbox, and began to play some Call of Duty. After five matches the results were same, Leo steam rolling over Jethro, however after each game the score difference was smaller between the two.

"Hey, at least you're getting better" Leo said, nudging Jethro .

"Yeah, I'm starting like this console thing" he replied, two chuckled a bit, and then became silent.

"Soooo, you want to go for another game?"

"Actually Leo, I need to tell ya somethin'." He put down the controller, and Leo followed suit, "in fact, I'm about to tell ya some real dark, and personal secrets."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, cause, ya see last night, Aeris came over to my place next door. She said she couldn't sleep cause of the murders, and you were sleepin' so she didn't want to disturb ya about that stuff. But really, I told her some stuff that I probably should've said earlier to ya guys." Jethro paused for a moment, "well ya see Leo, I have a terrible life, I've lost a lot of people I know, and love, I was hooked on drugs, and I was also a killa." Leo instantly gasped.

"You're a…killer?" he asked nervously as he began to slowly move away from him.

"Well, I'm not a crazed gunman, I'm an assassin, a hitmen, what eva ya want to call it."

"Really? Wooow, so how many people did you kill, what kind of gun did you use, do you have a serial number tattooed to back of your head?" he asked intriguingly. Jethro did not expect this reaction, but at the same time he kind of did.

"Uh, no offense, but you play too many video games mate." He said, Leo chuckled at his response.

"Yeah I know, I was just playing with you." Leo said, giving a whole hearted smile. Jethro smiled back at him, realizing that he was just trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Well, in all seriousness I've actually killed about eleven people."

"Oh" Leo replied.

"Although, there's actually some things I didn't tell her, but I'll share with you. But ya keep it a secret alright?"

"You got my word buddy." Leo said raising his left hand, Jethro laughed a bit.

"Aight, well first of all, I've been having dreams or flashbacks or somethin' like that, of the darkest moments in my pasts. I don't know why or how, but it's been driving me nuts."

"Wow, that's sucks, I guess you can't stop that from happening."

"Well actually, I did, last night…" Jethro said hanging his head down in guilt.

"How?" Leo was confused, and cocked his head to one side.

"I relapsed last night, I sipped at least half of the bottle." He said, putting his hands on face, "but I neva felt so good, so refreshed, I mean when ya on a drug, ya can't really see ya dreams. But now I'm probably becomin' addicted to that stuff again…" he sighed and leaned back, he felt Leo's hand slap his arm.

"Hey, don't be like that, me and Aeris are here for you, alright?" Leo said grinning. Jethro gave a small smile back to Leo, then the two heard a yawn coming from the hallway, and out came Aeris, her fur was messy, "Morning sunshine" Leo said, Aeris look dazedly at him.

"Oh…good morning Leo, and…Jethro?" she perked up to see him there.

"Morning Aeris, looks like you just had dingo's breakfast"

"Huh? What's that?" she said, Jethro laughed a bit before speaking again.

"A yawn, a leak, and good look around." He said cheerfully, Leo laughed with him, however Aeris was not too amused, but still smiled at the joke.

"Well, you're awfully happy this morning, what's up?"

"Oh it's…nothin'" Jethro said

"Okay then, well I'm going to have a _normal_ breakfast now." She said, and walked towards the kitchen, Jethro picked up his controller and shook it at Leo, and Leo nodded and picked up his controller and started a new round on the Xbox.


	9. Act 4:Redeemer

After hanging out with Aeris and Leo, Jethro went back to his apartment room, it was late and he opened the door into his dark apartment. He slowly walked forward looking for the light switch, he felt the switch and turned it on, but the light wouldn't go on.

"Bugga…" Jethro muttered, he went over to the bathroom, and flick the switch on, the light leaked out from the bathroom, sending a pillar of light to aluminate a small portion. He looked in and noticed the bottle of cough syrup in the sink; it was empty and the sink its self was stained red. The pieces of shattered glass were also in the sink; "I didn't do this…" he quickly turned around to see a figure in front of him, startled he fell on the tiled floor. The figure walked in the bathroom, it had a suit and a crude metal mask on. The design on the mask was strange; it had rectangular eyeholes, and at the end of the eyes was a long triangular slit that went downward to the center of the cheeks, there were slits on the bottom, possibly to mimic skull teeth. The mask also had many scars on it, some, especially on the left eyehole, had small perpendicular lines etched on them, to resemble stiches, and a flame design on the right eye hole. Jethro looked at the figure in fear; he never saw anything like it. Then it extended its hand out.

"I did not mean to frighten you…" it croaked in a raspy voice, "here, take my hand, I'll help you up from the floor…" Jethro looked at the mummified hand; he shook his head and got up on his own.

"W-who the hell are ya, or betta question what the hell are ya?" Jethro said he backed up; the figure just sighed, and put its hands in its pockets.

"I am here to help you, for I am more friend than foe…"

"Look, I don't need ya help, ya freak."

"Heheh, is that so? So the bottle of syrup and the broken glass don't signify anything?" it laughed a little more, and stepped forward, Jethro instantly jumped back.

"Hey, stay away from me" he said, putting up his fists in self-defense, this only made the figure laugh more.

"Calm yourself Jethro, like I said I'm here to help you…"

"How do you know my name?"

"Everybody knows you, the one who went out to kill the kings; you're practically wanted by most people, even the very group that your entire family has served before…"

"Shit, really? Who's after me?"

"The Australian Government, The Four Aces, The NAAC, and the AWP, they all want you dead, Jethro. But I saved your life by murdering those who were sent to murder you…"

"S-so you're the one who murdered those guys on the news?"

"That is correct…" Jethro stood there in shock; he looked at the strange figure, wondering if his past caught up with him.

"Come Jethro, let's talk in the living room, for the bathroom is quite small, I don't think that you'll be able to back up further than the tub…" the figure turned around and walked into the dark abyss of the apartment, Jethro didn't know what to do, follow the figure or try to run. He eventually went out of the bathroom, and the figure was leaning against a wall, he cautiously walked up to it.

"Ya still haven't told me who ya are."

"My apologizes, my name is Angkor…"

"Angkor…?" Jethro cocked an eyebrow, at the strange name.

"Yes, it is my name or least the name I given to myself…"

"Why would ya give ya self a weird name like that?"

"It is because, I have forgotten my real name, so I become Angkor for now…" Angkor got off the wall and stood straight, "but I must tell you, Jethro, that I am not alone…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Myself and plenty others are the remnants of the AWP…"

"What? The AWP is here?" , Angkor shook his head.

"No, as I said, we are the remnants of the AWP, we are the members who still believe in the original virtues of the AWP, not like the irrational members who are on narcotics and illegal drugs. We've gone- how should I say- "underground"."

"So what? You guys gone unda the radar, for what purpose?"

"A lot of things have changed since you fled three years ago, the conflict has risen up once again, and the violence has been much more devastating. The AWP went into riot, when information that you had killed Cabele came up. Many of the members, unaware of Cabele's true intentions, and all were still very loyal to him. They outraged and went to Mick for answers, he tried to explain Cabele's plan of betrayal, but many did not believed in his story, they called him a traitor and brutally, and publically killed him, my god it was a bloody scene, so many holes in the poor man that you couldn't even recognize him…" , Angkor paused and took a deep breath, then continued, "but there were some of us, who believed Mick, and we tried to stop them from killing him, but it was too late someone fired a shot at him, then others began to fire at the poor man, soon we started to fire at them, and then they fired at us, while others still continued to shoot at the dead body. This uprising brought civil war in the AWP, not only that but members also attacked the NAAC, which in turn made them attack us, then The Four Aces decided it was key time to attack the NAAC, and members of the AWP began to take shots at them..."

"So it's basically one big war" Jethro said

"Yes, it is, we got out as soon as The Four Aces got involved, since we were small in numbers compared to the others. We all fled here, only cause you were here…"

"Really, why?" Jethro asked, as he leaned against the wall.

"It's because, that even though the NAAC, AWP, and the Aces are fighting with each other, they all have one common goal in mind, and it is to kill you…", Jethro turned around so his back was against the wall, he stared off into nothingness.

"So, you're here to protect me from any assassination attempts I suppose." He said dryly, Angkor just looked at him, "so are you goin' to stay here in my apartment now or what?"

"No, I'll come here during the night, that's probably the best chance of someone trying to kill you." , Jethro nodded, and there was silence, "Oh yes I forget to tell you, but because of all of the deaths from the conflicts, the cemeteries are running out of room, and putting two or three bodies in one casket is now considered 'normal', and the authorities all suggest that people cremate the dead instead of burying them. But no one listening to them, and burying is more respectful and ritual than burning, so people just go out and illegally bury their dead in a grave yard, and it's sad to see, the police finding a casket that has been buried illegally and just digging it out. So we decided to bring, Shannon's and your mother's body over here to bury them respectfully…", Jethro immediately perked up.

"Wait, you brought them here?" he said in disbelief.

"Yes we did, we felt as though they needed burial, instead of being kept in a morgue…"

"T-that's crazy! I can't believe ya guys did that!"

"Jethro, the Mundy family are a proud group of people, they were one of the original members of the AWP, its only respectful that we bury members of a great and loyal family…", Jethro became silent and looked down at the carpet, "the funeral is tomorrow at a commentary about twenty clicks to the north here, I brought you a suit, and a mask to conceal your identity during it…", Angkor placed the suit and mask into Jethro's bag, "if you don't want to attend that's fine, no one will judge you, not even I..." Jethro nodded at him solemnly, "it starts at four in the afternoon, anyways I must leave, it's getting late and you need to sleep…", Angkor walked past Jethro and headed for the door, after he left Jethro sat down, the addiction came back, but Angkor poured the rest of the syrup into the sink. Jethro curled up into a ball, and fell over to his side. _ This is goin' to be a long night…._


	10. Act 4, Dream 4:Life

The sun was bright, the sky was a beautiful orange and gold, and the grass was a greenish yellow color. A tall, slender cat with fur as gold as the sky and short, jaggy hair like the grass, sat on a lawn chair, he was reading a newspaper and was smoking a black cigarette. He grunted and folded the newspaper in half and set it down on the arm of the chair, he stood up, stretched, took one long drag on his cigarette and carefully made smoke rings, trying to make them perfect. He admired the rings floating around, then he lifted up his boot, and put out the cigarette on the sole of it. He flicked the butt away on the lawn, and reached into his pocket and pulled out another one, and then went into his other pocket for his matches, he opened the book of matches to find that it was empty. He had an annoyed look on his face upon seeing this.

"_Jethro! Ya mind gettin' me a new book of matches?" _ he shouted through the screen door, couple minutes later, a cat that was a spitting image of his father came out in the backyard, with a book of matches.

"_Here ya dad."_ He smiled and handed the matches to his father.

"_Hey, thanks son."_ Lit a match and put it up to the cigarette.

"_Hey dad, can I try one of those?"_ the young teenager asked eagerly, the father just laughed.

"_Maybe when ya olda, we can have good ol' smoke togetha." _ he slapped the teen on his shoulder. He gazed into the sky, and had a tranquil smile on. The son looked at the sky too with awe.

"_That evenin' sky is probably the most beautiful thing I've seen."_  
><em>"I'm goin' to have to disagree with ya there son"<em> the boy looked at his father, _"all my years of bein' a hitmen, I've found out what the most beautiful thing in the world is, ya know what it is?" _ the boy shook his head, _"its life, mate."_

"_Life?" _ the boy asked.

"_That's right, I mean each time I go out to kill a bounty I realize it, just before I pull the trigga. Life is beautiful, every part of it. It's precious and a wonderful thing to have. And ya want to know what else is the most beautiful thing in the world is?"_

"_what?"_

"_A person, a living being. Ya know, those religious blokes say that a human was created from 'God's image', now I don't really believe in that stuff, but I do agree with that concept. A person is beautiful, a man, a women, a child. They're all beautiful, like life."_

"_But, if life and people are beautiful, then why do kill for a livin'?" _ the teen asked.

"_It's because I do it to feed my family, it's my profession, I have a reason to do it, just like the cops, or military men, or somethin' like that. Ya got those video games where ya shoot people and kill them, or movies or TV shows that have violence in em, people can tolerate that because its fake, it's not real, however let me tell ya, to see someone die, like REALLY die, it's terrifying. The first time I had to kill someone I was shaking, and hesitating, because I knew I'll be taking away someone's life, not just their life, but their family, friends, everyone who knew him, and with just one pull of the trigga, you take it all away from them. It's sad, and no matta how many times ya do it, you'll neva get used to it. But those people who choose to kill anotha person without a legitimate reason, they're the worst kind. I mean, why would you just WANT to kill somethin' so beautiful? It boggles my mind, literally each I think about it."_ The father took a long drag on his cigarette, and puffed a long stream of smoke out of his mouth, _"let me tell ya boy, there's no such thing as the grim reaper, cause everyone in the world, IS the grim reaper. We all control each other's fate, it's true. I could choose not to kill the man or women I'm supposed to kill, but ya know what? I do. Why? Cause it will benefit me more that they die, cause if they don't die, I don't get paid. And that's true for everyone else out there, life's just too valuable, and people are too greedy."_ The father put out his cigarette and took out a new one, he lit it again, and inhaled deeply. He checked his watch, and then quietly smoked his last cigarette, _"it's about time for me to go to work, Jethro. See ya later mate."_ He ruffled the boy's messy hair, and walked towards the house.

"_Wait, dad."_ The boy called, the father turned around and looked at the boy waiting for him to talk, _"Dad…what about those people who …ya know, kill themselves?"_ the father took a deep breath, and walked back to his son.

"_Well, Jethro some people…just forget how beautiful life is. The world is full of beauty, full of colour, but to those people, all the colours seem to just wash away."_

"_Oh…I see…"_ the son nodded.

"_Jethro"_, the boy looked up, _" Promise me that you'll learn…"_

"_Learn what?"_

"_Learn to love yourself, so ya don't hurt yourself. And learn to love others, so ya don't hurt them. Okay?" _ the young teen nodded, and the father smiled in approval, _"see ya tonight Jethro, I really got to go now alright?"_

"_Yeah, see ya later dad."_ The young boy watched his father go through the house, and listened for the front door to close. He looked at the setting sun again, noticing that it wasn't quite as beautiful as it was before, but at the same time, he felt like he was looking at high class art. He then noticed the newspaper on the arm of the lawn chair, he picked it up and saw it was the business section, the head line read: "The Four Aces, Acing Through the Competition". He began to the read the article: "A new business has surpassed many competitors the last couple months, and is now a big corporation in Sydney. The huge success of the Four Aces is unbelievable, with the founders of it being formal members of a large group called the "National Australian Authority Committee", or NAAC for short…"

_It was late, and mum wanted me to do an errand, since dad hasn't come home yet. I wonda where he is, if he was goin' to be late, he would've called sayin' so. I needed to buy some extra groceries since mum is plannin' to have her friends ova tomorrow…I was walkin' down the street ,it was late at night, and I decided to take the long way home, cause I wanted to look around town a bit. I walked through some alleyways and then I heard a crowd of people and lots of shoutin'. I rushed ova to see what all the racket was about, there were a bunch of police cars and swat vans outside, they all were pointin' their guns at an abandoned house, people were crowding around tryin' to see what was happenin', but the police were shovin' them back, and blockin' them. I stood and watched the crowd hustlin' around, eventually people started to get bored and left, so I took my chance and went up to see things up close. Then suddenly a man busted out of the house and pointed a gun at the crowd of police, my ears were ringin' and a police officer shielded me, I could hear faint sounds of gun fire, it went on for a good five seconds, and five seconds of gunfire feels like one year of total war. The officer let go of me and I looked to see a man, a man with gold fur, tall, slender, and bloody. I think it was from that day on, I began to forget how beautiful life is._


	11. Act 4: Bereavement

It was snowing that day, the world was almost pure white, like paper, and Jethro was looking at the window, and fixing his tie. He was dressed up, in the suit that Angkor left him, and the mask that was given to him was on the floor next to him. He noticed his reflection in the window, it just barely showed; he looked terrible from detoxing, withdrawal, and sleep deprivation.

"Boy, I look awful; at least I got this mask to hide it all…"

He picked up the mask with a shaky hand, and looked at it; it looked as though a beast had slashed it with its claws, for it had three diagonal ridged tears on it, it had a long scar that streaked through the middle of the tears and, like Angkor's, had an etching on it to make it resemble stiches. However it did not have the skull teeth design on the bottom. Jethro turned it around to see that there were leather straps on it, which outline the back of the cranium and the jawline. There was a large skinny piece of leather on the back of the leather strap. He snugged the straps on his head, and tightened them. He noticed that the mask flips down and up, like a welding helmet, he flipped down the mask over his face, and for whatever reason; he felt as though he was seeing the world differently. He left his apartment, and went outside to the bus stop; he rode on the bus until he finally got to his destination. He walked a couple block and found the commentary, and went in. It was still snowing, and the entire graveyard was covered in it. He walked and found a group of people, all in suits, and all wearing a mask. When he approached the group, they came up and shook his hand.

"We're sorry for your loss Jethro." One of them said.

"_Thank ya for havin' this funeral for them, I suppose…"_ Jethro said, awkwardly.

"It should've neva ended this way." Another said.

"_Yeah… but it can't be helped."_

"Your mother and sister were good women"

"_Yes, they were…"_

"Forgive us Jethro, we shouldn't have let this happen to them"

"_It's alright, I'm sure ya did what ya could…"_

"Shannon was just young to go, she was a beautiful girl, looked like her mother"

"_Yes, they both were very alike…"_

"Jethro…" said a familiar voice, Jethro turned around at the direction of it, the group of figures moved out of the way for Angkor, "I'm glad you came, do you want to go see their caskets…?"

"_Yeah, I would."_

"Then follow me…" Angkor turned around and walked towards the two caskets, Jethro followed him close by.

"_Who are these things?"_ he asked nervously

"These are members like I, you should not fear them, like you do not fear me…"

"_So, all of ya guys ran from Australia, and came here?"_

"No, most of them are here just for the funeral, afterwards they will go back to Australia…"

"_To fight? I thought ya said it was a losin' battle"_

"It is, but to those, life is no longer valuable, and it is no different to death…"

"_Life is no longer valuable to them…"_ Jethro looked down at the snow, those words had more sting than the snow itself. Angkor looked at him.

"Does that bother you Jethro…?" he asked him.

"_No, its fine…"_ Jethro shook his head, for a twenty yard walk, it felt like miles. They finally reached the alters with the two caskets on them, there were other figures who were there, paying their respects.

"Here they are, the one on the left is Shannon, the other one is your mother…" Angkor said as he pointed to indicate who was in it. Jethro slowly walked up, first to his sister, and then went to his mother's. He wanted to touch the caskets, cry over them, pray over them, at least show some kind of mourning or emotion, but he couldn't, he felt that it was impossible. He tried to touch his mother's casket, but he hesitated, he looked at his hand, tainted red from blood, and bandaging that was stained even more, he quickly withdraw his hand, and walked back to Angkor, who was watching his every move, "are you finished mourning for them…?" he asked.

"_Y-yeah…yeah I am…"_ he stuttered, Angkor continued to look at him, even though Jethro could not see Angkor's face, he knew that he was looking at him with pity.

"We will carry the caskets to their burials now, would you like to have the honor to help carry one casket…?" Angkor finally said, Jethro shook his head silently, Angkor took a deep sigh, "Tainted hands do not make tainted bodies…" and walked forward to tell the others that the they will move the bodies. Jethro was stunned that he knew what he was thinking, but he snapped out of it, and followed the crowd as the bodies were moved. The walk felt long, but finally they reached the graves for his mother and sister. The caskets were placed in the grave, and everyone was then handed two white roses.

"_White roses?"_ Jethro questioned as he examined the flowers, Angkor, and many others placed one rose Shannon's casket, and the other one on his mother's casket. When Angkor was finished he walked up to Jethro.

"Aren't you going to place the roses on their caskets…?" he looked at Jethro , as if he was examining him like before, "those are white roses, they symbolize purity, like your sister and mother. Think of it as a prayer or blessing, that their next life is happier than this one…" Jethro just nodded and walked up and tossed the rose down in the grave were it landed on top of the casket, he did the same to the other. He stepped back, and let others follow suit, and then he watched as two figures, at each grave, burying the bodies. After the graves were filled, everyone left. Jethro and Angkor walked back to the bus stop, "Jethro would you like it if I were to accompany you and help comfort you…?" Angkor asked.

"_No, I'm okay, I'm alright you can go home."_ Jethro said softly, Angkor just nodded , the bus came and Jethro climbed in, he sat down saw Angkor standing outside, he was waving at him. Jethro waved back, and the bus drove away. When he got to the apartment, he walked quickly as he can, he ignored the landlord who greeted him, he ignored everything, and went into his apartment. He ripped the mask off, and fell on the floor on his knees and wept, "Oh bloody hell…oh god….oh god….why….oh bloody fucking hell….damn it…."


	12. Act 4, Dream 5: Eulogy of None

It was a dim, gloomy room, with a wooden table in the center, and a window with wood planks nailed on it. Beams of orange light seeped in between planks. The wooden table had an out of tuned radio and TV, on it. Jethro sat on a chair, his face laying on the table, looking at the window…

_Crrrrkkk…"Just this evening, gunshots could have been heard for miles, as police and swat officers shot down thrity four year old, Niel Mundy, after Niel rushed out and attempted to shoot down law enforcement with his weapon, however police officles have found that his weapon was unloaded, thus Niel has commited what is known as "sucide by cop". Law enforcement beforehand had cornered Niel in a small abandon home after giving chase to him. Niel was wanted for unlawful murder and assisination of more than twenty people…" crrrrrrkkkksshhh…._

_Bzzzzzzzttt….. "the violence here is out of control , people are rioting, protesting that the AWP, NAAC, and the Four Aces leave and give themselves up to the law enforcement to stop the violence, it is total chaos here in the streets"…bzzzzzzttt…._

_Crrrrrrkkkkkksshhh…." Indeed these substances have very strong addictive qualities, these drugs are changing the way people live, as well as destroying them"...crrrrkkkksshh…_

_Bzzzzztt… "People are now experiencing something that not many people really know about, this is the otherside of life, and of society; poverty, homelessness, drug trafficking, drug abuse, human trafficking, violence, death, I mean the list goes on, and like I said not many people know that there is this side of our society , our community, it's just that its usually a small portion of our society and we don't know that its there and it coexist with us, but now this side has been blown up where it's the dominating society, compare to our normal lives ."_

"_Yeah, I have to agree with you, I think this is opening people's eyes that our society is not as perfect as we think…"…bzzzzzzttt…_

_Crrrrrkkkkk….Five are wounded with many dead as the violence continues here….crrrrkkkkkk…._

_Bzzzzzzz….Four men, two women, and one child was killed in the crossfire here…bzzzzzzt…_

_Crrrrrkkkkk…Swat forces have been givin the green light to shoot and kill…crrrrkkk…._

…_.Eight dead, nine wounded….bzzt_

…_.Eleven dead, fourteen wounded….crrrk_

…_.Six dead, many others wounded….bzzt_

_Crrrkkkkkk bzzzzzttt…._

…


	13. Act 4: Ruination

The golden cat laid there on the floor, looking at the ceiling, the self-destruction sequence is starting. Everything has gone downhill, and life is breaking into smaller pieces for him. Only if he didn't drain all that cough syrup, he probably could've lasted a little longer, but it wouldn't matter for him at this point, he was debating whether on leaving again, or leaving forever. Turning his head to the right he looks at the wall that separates him, from them. Leo and Aeris. He slowly got up, and turned to face the man, that calls himself Angkor.

"Are you alright Jethro?..." Angkor asked. Jethro just stared at him.

"No, I'm not alright, in fact I'm more fucked up than I can eva be." He stated with heavy breathing.

"I know that you are traumatized from the recent events…"

"Yeah, I guess I kinda am"

"Maybe you would like to wash your face…"

"Yeah…yeah that just might perk up from this slump…"

He walked into the bathroom, and Angkor followed. He turned on the sink, the glass shards and bottle were still there.

"It would be the best if you disposed of those objects in the sink…" Jethro said nothing, the sound of running water hitting the plastic bottle, and it draining filled the ominous silence, "Maybe, if you were to share what has been troubling you, maybe you will feel less of a cankered plant…" Jethro continued to say nothing. Angkor just stared at him, leaning on the doorframe, "if you feel that spoken words cannot be summoned at the will of your throat, then may you get your point through the language of your hands, and means from actions…", Jethro closed his eyes, and picked up the plastic bottle, he dropped it on the floor, then he picked up a handful of glass shards, it felt like picking up a sea urchin, and he dropped it on the floor, bloody bits of glass drop and bounce on the tile, "so you choose to hurt yourself, which means that you fear no death, and no pain…", Jethro felt a particularly large shard of glass, and clutched it, he didn't even feel a thing, as it dug and grinded into his paw, the sink soon looked as though blood ran through it, and not water. Then with all his might he trusted the shard into Angkor's throat, the blood along with his own, mixed and pooled all over.

"There ya go, I've showed ya meanin' through action, ya got the picture now?" Jethro said, but then was shocked to hear Angkor laugh through the shard in his throat.

"I bleed, but I am not killed…." He croaked.

"What the? Why aren't ya dead? Doesn't this hurt like hell?"

"No, it does not, for one who is already dead cannot feel pain…"

"What? What do ya mean by that?"

"Just like the others, I have lost my true identity, I've lost who I really am. I have forgotten my name, and I don't even know WHO I am…"

"Ya forgot who ya are?"

"Yes, I was died a long time ago Jethro, I know not who I am, so I gave myself a new name, Angkor…."

"Why the hell do ya wear that mask of yours anyways?" Jethro asked, not bothering to continue to ask about the first question any more.

"When, I truly lost my identity, I was nothing. I could not function, I was just a thing. I had no life, an empty casket with no body to house in it. But when I wore this mask, it felt as though i had new life. For I am in a sense, a mere puppet, this mask pulls my strings, and it is the fuel of my worthless life."

"Oh really, huh? Shouldn't ya be dead now? God damn, die already!" Jethro said, as he shoved the shard further down Angkor's throat.

"Like I said, it is hard to die, when I feel no pain. For death is a woman with a cruel kiss. She can make it quick and pleasant, or long and passionate. Her kiss does not affect me no longer, she nothing but a whore to me…" Angkor said casually, Jethro shoved the shard in more. But Angkor just laughed more, "I am already dead, a broken toy, just like you and me. People are like toys, they break easy, but are difficult to fix..…"

"God damn it, I'm tired of you let me kill you straight in the eyes" Jethro said, as he ripped the mask off bleeding man.

"AAAAHHHH, you have stripped the face that which I call Angkor, yet I still breathe! If you wished to kill me, you would have done it sooner. Although while I do speak as my blood and yours inter join together and soak and cleanse the clothes that we wear and the skin that we have, I will say you and I are alike…"

"Ya think I'm the same as you? No, no, no that's-that's wrong!" his voice was trembling, his hand was shaking.

"Lies! You and I are more brothers than ever, when you wore the mask yesterday you had more life than you'd usually have, your hand is split and the shards fit into your paw like it fits my throat so snuggly like a jig saw puzzle, yet we don't scream the pain, that normal people will preach. We are already dead, we have no name, no identity. Alas kill me now, so may I be free from the torture, and into salvation…"

"I don't know, if I want to…I-i-i-i-i- don't know….maybe I should look into my heart, and stop this madness."

"What heart?..." it asked, Jethro looked at it and in a frighten rage, stabbed all the way in. The figure died, laid motionless on the bathroom floor. He searched his coat, and found a silenced pistol in it. He took it, and walked out of his apartment, he was shaking, sweating, twitching like mad. He went next door, and knocked the door with his red hand. The door opened and Leo was there.

"Oh hey Jeth-" Leo stopped short, he went pale, and was shaking, he slowly looked down, and noticed three bullet holes in his abdomen, he put his hand over them, and collapsed on the wall, and slid down, leaving a smear trail of blood as he went. He tried to speak but he couldn't. Jethro just looked at him, then he suddenly snapped out of his phase, he looked around confused, scared, he looked down at Leo, who was bleeding on the ground, he looked at his hands to find a gun in one, and blood all over on both. He dropped the gun, his hands shaking so much as though they were alive, and in his deluded state began to scream on the top of his lungs.

"MURDER!MUURRRDERRR!MURDER!MURDER! MURRRRRDERRRR!"


	14. Act 5: The Schism

**Author's Notes:Well here it is; the final Act of The Otherside (dun dun duuunnn). I'll be uploading one part at a time instead of uploading the entire Act, just to make some suspension, or something like that... But either way as always review if you wish, but more importantly enjoy the story. **

"Sir. Excuse me sir, I need you to state your name, sir!" a female officer asked impatiently.

_What happened, I can't rememba anythin'…shit…._

"Hey, boy! Are you ignoring us?" shouted a large male cop.

_Oh, shit… all I rememba is seeing Leo on the ground bleedin', and I'm covered in blood, and then Aeris walked up and she screamed, and then…and then…damn it…._

"HEY!" the male cop slapped the golden cat on back of his head.

"_Ow! What the hell?"_

"So, you're finally done ignoring law enforcement, boy?"

"_Wha-? Who? Where am I?"_

"You're at the police station, sir; you're under arrest for murder and battery." The female officer informed him.

"_Oh…okay then…so what do you want?"_ he asked nervously.

"She needs you to state your name, so we can verify it. But you spaced out and didn't answer us for a good solid five minutes." The male cop said in an annoyed tone.

"_Oh…my bad…"_

"Yeah…whatever, so what's your name boy? And make it quick, I've already lost my precious time that I could've spent catching hooligans, hipsters, and or lawbreakers."

"_My name….my name…"_

"Yes sir, we need your name to continue."

"_I-I-I don't…my name…fuck…"_

"Oh my gawd, I'm tired of your shit kid!"

"Hey! Calm down officer, we prefer to keep our inmates alive!" the female officer jumped up and restrained the male cop from reaching for his gun.

_My name, what is my name? Why can't I remember who I am?_

**Meanwhile…**

Aeris sat in the emergency waiting room, with her hands in her face, as she tried to absorb everything that just happened. She's been there for about an hour and half, and worried sick about Leo. A nurse came in and looked around, until she found the distressed pink cat.

"Ms. Cole?" she asked, Aeris perked up to the sound of her name.

"How is he? Is he okay? Is he going to be all right?" she asked immediately, the nurse was startled from the sudden rush of questions, but then smiled kindly at her.

"Leo's fine, right now, we finished removing the bullets, and patched the wounds." Aeris looked relieved.

"Can I see him?" she asked eagerly, the nurse nodded and gestured to follow her. They walked down hallways, and passed several rooms, until they reached Leo's.

"He's right in here, if you need anything there's a phone inside." The nurse said, and walked away. Aeris opened the door, and saw Leo, sleeping in the hospital bed; he had few tubes in him. She walked cautiously, as the sound of the heart rate monitor beeped in its same rhythm. She took a seat in a chair and slid it towards Leo's bed; she sat there and watched him attentively, waiting for him to wake up.

**At the Police Station**

"Alright…let's see here….name: Jethro Bentley Mundy, age: 19, date of birth: August 8, 1993, location of birth: North Ryde, New South Wales, height:180.34 centimeters, weight: 75 kilos, hair: gold, eyes: grey, citizenship: Australia, is there anything else you need?" another male officer asked, as he read from a file.

"No, that should be good, we got his fingerprints right?" asked the female officer.

"Of course we do, I just did it a while ago. So, is he ready to become jailbait?" the male cop asked eagerly.

"Yes, he's ready to be placed in a cell, now." she said rolling her eyes.

"Alright boy, you're coming with me." He gripped the Jethro's arm with his hand, and dragged him down the hall.

"_Ya mind easing up on ya grip mate?"_

"Quiet, scumbag!"

"_Aight, aight…ya don't need to shout…"_ Jethro said shrinking away from the cop.

"You know what makes me love this job so much boy?" he asked with a sadistic smile on his face

"_N-no…"_

"It's the feeling I get when I throw your kind into the place they belong, in jail! No git in there!" he said, as he pushed Jethro into a cell.

"_Ya didn't need to shove mate…" _Jethro said, rubbing his arm.

"Hahaha, git cozy in there boy, cause your trail isn't schedule for a month, and if you ask me about your fate, well i think its best that you make yourself home here." The male cop walk away, laughing to himself.

_He's a bloody ass…but damn, one month in a cell until my fate is dangled right in front of me, in a courthouse… but maybe he's right… maybe I'm right where I should be…I deserve this…_

**At the Hospital**

"Leo, when are you going to wake up?" Aeris whispered, as she continued to watch the sleeping grey cat. She's been waiting for forty-six minutes, soon to be forty-seven. She leaned back in her chair and sighed, she was still a little traumatized from seeing that awful scene; Jethro covered in blood, fear and terror in his eyes, and Leo was slumped over on the ground, bleeding. The vision just makes her want to shiver. _ Jethro….why did he do that? What happened to him? _ Then she heard a groan, and saw that Leo was waking up, he began to stretch, but then immediately flinched and clutched his stomach, "Whoa there, take it easy. They just patched you up." She said gently pushing him back on the bed. Leo looked up and was startled to see Aeris there beside him.

"A-Aeris? What are you doing here?" he asked

"I'm here to see you, idiot" she said jokingly, Leo chuckled a bit, but again flinched and clutched his stomach in pain, "What did I tell you? Take it easy."

"You made me laugh" he said defensively, Aeris just shrugged in apology.

"Well, how do you feel?"

"Like complete shit" he said bluntly, his entire mood suddenly changed, Aeris noticed this.

"Leo, what's wrong?" she asked, Leo hesitated to speak.

"It's just that…it's about him." he said gravely.

"You mean, Jethro?" Aeris asked she began to worry about what Leo has to say.

"Yeah….it's just that, I can't believe he shot me. I mean, I thought we were friends, I thought we were cool each other." He said angrily, "I trusted him, I saw him as one of closest friends, and then he turns around and stab me in the back…or in this case, shoots me in the stomach. I feel betrayed sorta, don't you Aeris?"

"Well, I don't feel exactly betrayed…more like disappointed."

"Disappointed? In him, what for?" he asked speciously, Aeris rubbed her arm and looked down at the floor.

"It's just that, I didn't think he would do such a thing, I mean I know how you feel, but for some reason, I feel as though it's not his fault…"

"Not his fault? Aeris, he literally shot me three times in the stomach. How can it NOT be his fault?"

"Well, I mean why would he scream 'Murder' out loud like he had nothing to do with it?"

"I don't know, I guess his moral compass got back on point, and he realized what he done."

"Still, I think he just lost it, and went nuts."

"Aeris! Why are you defending him?" Leo shouted at her, she quickly looked at him; his face was full of anger, and his eyes full of betrayal.

"I-I-I-I don't know, it's just that there's this one part of me that thinks that, the real Jethro had nothing to do with it, and that he just went mad."

"Oh my gosh, Aeris are you even listening to yourself? You're defending a murder, he's done this millions of times in the past, and he's use to shooting a gun at someone."

"But that's the thing; he had a terrible past growing up. I mean, all the violence, and stuff probably took a real psychological effect on him, and he probably just snapped at that point."

"So? That doesn't mean you can give him a free pass, to do whatever he wants."

"Look, Leo I'm trying to explain my reasoning and all you're doing is pushing them aside, why won't you listen?"

"Because, you're not the one who got shot, alright!" , Aeris got silent, and she slouched in her chair. Leo looked at her, and realized that he probably was too hard on her. He leaned back in his bed, and sighed, "Look, Aeris I don't want to break up our friendship okay? It's just that I probably can't understand your point of view, and you probably can't understand mine, that is fine. They're probably going to hold a trail against him, and by the looks of it, you're going to try to defend him, that's okay with me. But, don't expect me to be on the same side, cause when the day of the trail comes, I'll be doing everything in my power, to send him to prison." , Aeris continued to be silent, and looked at the hospital tiles, Leo just sighed again and laid back down. Aeris slowly got up from her chair, and walked out of Leo's room; she carefully closed the door behind her, and leaned against the door. She rubbed her face, and walked out of the hospital. She walked outside, to see that it was snowing, and then watched the snowflakes fall from the night sky._ I think I'll walk home tonight…._she thought, and made the long trek back home.


	15. Act 5:A Visit

**Author Notes:It has been many moons since I've updated a chapter, many moons indeed, anyways I had a nice run in with everybody's bestest pal: Writer's Block. Yeah we had a good chat over tea, baked cookies and I learned how to Crochet. But kidding aside, I had some serious writer's block going on, and I really couldn't think of any thing to write for the pass month or two, in fact it was so bad that I was even considering to put the story on hold or put in my back pocket and move on. Lucky, I realized that there are people who do enjoy this story or at least find it interesting and it'll be a damn shame just to end it, so I went to my main source of inspiration: my iPod, and guess which song and artist saved me, Many Men(Wish Death) by 50 cent. Yup, 50 cent saved my ass from writer's block...Story of my life, or at least of my writing career. But anywho I am sure your tired of reading this long note so I'll cut you lose, as always leave a review if you wish, but more importantly enjoy the story. **

"_Too late for the otherside…_

_Caught in a chase, 25 to life…"_

A middle aged cat, with tattoos on his right arm, was singing to his visitors, a woman, and a child; most likely the wife and child of him. Aeris was sitting a couple seats from them; she was sitting at the visiting area waiting for Jethro to arrive on the other side of the glass to talk. Finally the golden cat arrived and sat down on the chair, they both picked up the phone on their side of the glass, and gawked at each other for awhile, the typical way her visits start out. It's been at least five months since the incident, and Jethro's trial still hasn't happened yet.

"So…how do you feel?" Aeris finally said, to break the silence.

"Good actually, I feel a lot betta than I was back in my first week of jail…Well I mean back then I was detoxing, and it's the first week…but like my dad told me; no matta what situation you're in, if given enough time you'll eventually get use it."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Yup." And then there was an awkward silence between the two, "So, what's the press been sayin' about me?" Jethro asked.

"Well, apparently they're saying that the prosecution is trying to stack charges against you, with all the assignations you did."

"Aw, shit…no wonda they were takin' so long with my trial, as well as my lawyer not visitin' me for the past four months…"

"You mean, you've haven't talked to your lawyer about the trial since your first month here?" Aeris said in disbelief.

"Yeah, and actually I honestly don't mind, guy's a real arsehole, probably spending most of his time at those pre-trial hearings or conferences or what eva they call those things."

"Sounds like you don't really like your lawyer." Aeris said jokingly.

"Tch yeah I don't, first time I met him, he wanted to plead insanity, I told him what I've done is what I've done and there's no reason to avoid it, I wanted to plead guilty, but he told me if I did then we won't have a trial at all. And with the insanity plea, I'll be sent to a nut house, and I don't want that, so we argued and then eventually I gave in…"

"Wow, he sounds like a real ass."

"Yeah no shit probably thinks I'm one too." Once again there was an awkward silence, "….How's Leo?"

"He's doing better, they got him on some physical therapy, and he's recovered quite a bit."

"That's good so, does he still hate my guts?"

"Yeah, although not as much as before, Leo's the kind of guy that forgives pretty easily, I didn't think he would stay madder than hell at you for long, but I swear he feels more betrayed than angry."

"Yeah, I don't blame 'em, had the same thing practically to happen me…" he said solemnly, he had his fingers pressed against the side of his face looking down, "…good friend ends up backstabbing ya, a real snake in the bushes…", Aeris looked at Jethro silently, then leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak but paused, almost hesitant to say whatever she wanted to say. Jethro looked up and gave small laugh, "Go ahead, I'm fine with whateva." Aeris was somewhat surprised to hear that remark but also gave a small chuckle, however became serious quickly.

"Jethro"

"Yeah?"

"Who…who was that guy you killed at your apartment?"

"Him…yeah I almost forgot about him…" he rubbed his face and leaned back in his chair, "his name was Angkor."

"Angkor?" Aeris asked with puzzle look.

"Yeah I know, it's an odd name, but the thing is, is that he said he forgotten who he was, lost his identity, and said that the mask he wore gave him life or new identity or somethin' like that… I really didn't understand the bloke a whole lot, talked weird, sounded weird, looked weird. But he was there to help me get me out of the hole I dug myself. I guess he was my final lifeline, my safety rope before I came crashing down, and I cut him loose…"

"…Just like an anchor?" Aeris interrupted, Jethro looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, just like that…" he said quietly to himself, "Actually some of his guys came over for a visit, they dress like him, suit and tie, mask over their faces. They came by and told me that maybe it's the time to end it…Not really sure what they mean by "to end it", maybe they're considerin' disbanding the AW…"a police officer came up behind Jethro and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Jethro your lawyer is on the line right now, he wants to tell you something real quick. Your visiting time won't be used up talking to him, so you can come back when you're done." The officer said.

"Oh okay," he turned to Aeris, "I'll be back." She nodded to him, as he got up and followed the officer. She hung the phone back on the receiver, and waited semi-patiently for him to return, the singing inmate was still singing to his visitors, but it was different song, Aeris decided to listen to pass the time.

"_Is anybody out there? It feels like I'm talkin' to myself…_

_Nobody knows my struggle, and everything I come from…_

_Can anybody hear me? Yeah, I guess I keep talkin' to myself _

_It feels like I'm goin' insane, am I the one who's _crazy_?"_

Jethro came back and sat down with a worried look on his face, Aeris picked up the phone.

"So what's up?" she asked as soon as Jethro picked up the phone on his side.

"Well, apparently they finally reached an agreement, and sorted all the evidence and shit out."

"That's good, right?"

"Well I guess so, but the thing is, is that my trial is a week from now."

"Wait, really?" Aeris almost shouted, everyone in the room turned and glanced at her, an officer came up and told her to lower her voice or else they had to take her out. Jethro was rubbing the inside of his ear, from hearing the shout directly through the phone.

"Eh keep ya voice down, I don't want to go deaf on one ear…"

"Sorry, but why so soon?"

"My lawyer told me that the judge is sick of the case, since they've been workin' on it for a long time, and wants it over with."

"Oh I see…So is that good news, or bad?"

"I honestly don't know, but I'm feelin' bad about it…" they both leaned back in their chairs at the same time, as though they were reflections in a mirror. After another long silence Jethro perked up, "Speakin' about my trial, I know Leo is already goin' to testify against me, but… what 'bout you, Aeris?"

"Me... I don't know, you're my friend, but Leo is too. I really don't know what I'm going to do."

"Well, honestly I don't really care, the verdict is pretty much clear as day. But Aeris, I know ya care and all but I'm just some random bloke who happened to cross paths with ya, and even though we all became friends, Leo is a lot closer to ya than me aight? His goin' to get betta, he's always goin' to be there for ya, I mean heck he's ya roommate ya goin' to see all the time…But me, I won't be able to see you or Leo, I'm already ill as I can be, I'll be in prison, and just cause I have a terrible life doesn't mean you have to worry about me…"

"So, what's your point?" Aeris asked cautiously.

"Aight, I'll cut to the chase, I want ya to testify against me."

"What?" Aeris almost shouted out, once again everybody stared at the pink cat, and an officer came up and gave her one last warning before they were going to ask her to leave.

"Damn, I'm really goin' to go deaf if ya keep that up…" he said, rubbing his ear once again, "But sounds like ya have problem with that."

"Well wouldn't you if your friend asked to go against him in court?"

"Look, ya not goin' up against me in court it's just that ya tellin' the truth whole truth and nothin' but the truth. Besides, I really got nothin' to lose, I have no family, no real occupation, no money, hell the only things I got are you guys and the apartment…and honestly I think I've lost the will to even care a long time ago."

"Jethro…" Aeris clenched her fist, but released it immediately, "Fine, I understand…"

"Thanks Aeris for understandin', I just wish Leo would feel the same…as well as everyone else."

"Yeah, well like I said, he'll forgive you eventually, everybody will."

"I hope ya right…" Jethro said dauntingly, another officer came behind Jethro and pointed his watch indicating that Jethro's time was up, "Anyways thanks again Aeris, I guess I'll see ya at court."

"Yeah, see you then." She said slowly, as Jethro got up and had handcuffs placed on him. Aeris sat there for awhile, pondering. She finally got out from her seat and walked out, not bothering to hear another song by the singing man.

***The Chorus of the two songs in this chapter are (in order) "25 to Life" by Eminem and "Talkin' 2 Myself" also by Eminem.**

** I do not own Eminem, his songs/lyrics, or **Aftermath Entertainment.****


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